Europe clears mobiles on aircraft

[Naim 6]

BBC

Page last updated at 10:27 GMT, Monday, 7 April 2008 11:27 UK

 

Europe clears mobiles on aircraft

 

Mobile phone calls will be allowed on planes flying in European airspace under new European Commission rules.

 

The decision means that mobiles could be used once a plane has reached an altitude of 3,000m or more.

 

It follows six months of consultation by the European regulator and the first services could launch next month.

 

Viviane Reding, the EU telecoms commissioner, has warned operators to keep the cost of calls made on planes at a reasonable level.

 

"If consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take-off.

 

"I also call on airlines and operators to create the right conditions on board aircraft to ensure that those who want to use in-flight communication services do not disturb other passengers," she said.

 

The European Commission has introduced new rules to harmonise the technical requirements for the safe in-flight use of mobile phones.

 

The commission is also making it possible to enable the national licences granted to individual airlines by a member state to be recognised throughout the EU.

 

The decision to offer the services now falls to individual airlines. However, there are other regulatory hurdles to overcome before the technology is considered to be fully approved.

 

The European Aviation Safety Agency still needs to approve any hardware that would be installed in aircraft to ensure that it did not interfere with other flight systems.

 

How does the system work?

 

The plan is to install small mobile phone base stations, called pico cells, in aircraft that will be switched on after take-off. The base station generates a bubble of coverage in and around the aircraft.

 

Calls made via the pico cell will be routed to terrestrial networks via satellite link. Across Europe radio spectrum has been set aside for the technology.

 

The services could stop working once aircraft leave European airspace.

 

Martin Selmayr, spokesman for Ms Reding's office, said that flight captains would be able to switch off the on-board service if they felt it necessary.

 

Initially, only second generation networks will be offered but growing interest would mean that third generation, or 3G, services will follow.

 

The first flights offering calls could start as early as next month.

 

Air France is believed to be ready to deploy the technology while Ryanair is expected to submit an application.

 

The cost of making a mobile phone call from a plane will be higher than making one from the ground.

 

In the UK, regulator Ofcom said it would investigate and address any evidence of "excessive charges and abuses of competition" if prices were set unfairly by airlines and mobile networks.

 

Ms Redding has said the EC had no plans to cap the cost of calls made on planes.

 

The European Commission backing means planes registered in one country would be able to offer mobile communications services to passengers when flying over other EU countries without having to apply for additional national licences.

 

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7334372.stm

[KK Lee 5]

 

Myth that handphone may endanger aircraft is busted!

 

 

 

 

[Naim 6]

Myth that handphone may endanger aircraft is busted!

 

Not so fast, fren.

 

Digital phones (2G, 3G) has auto RF power control. With an onboard picocell, the system is engineered to ensure handphone generates minimal power for the link. Futhermore airlines may shield critical components from RF, when installing this picocell.

 

However if you switch on your hp in flight now, it tries to reach weak stations on the ground, blasting max power - and then there are unshielded components. That's the issue with interference.

 

 

 

[zaki 0]

BBC

Page last updated at 10:27 GMT, Monday, 7 April 2008 11:27 UK

 

Europe clears mobiles on aircraft

 

Air France is believed to be ready to deploy the technology while Ryanair is expected to submit an application.

 

wahh... ryanair is so quick eh?

 

(ryanair = : hahaha... money money money...)

 

i hope the charge is not THAT expensive...

 

slightly OT; i remember when i was on an AK flight last year, i had to do some quick calculation so i used my hp... my hp was new then and equipped with flight-safe mode.... a gentleman next to me, being a responsible citizen, told me that i could not use the hp in-flight... i smiled and explained to him about the flight-safe mode... and he ended up belek-belek (playing around with) my nice phone

 

 

[Ignatius 4]

wahh... ryanair is so quick eh?

 

(ryanair = : hahaha... money money money...)

 

i hope the charge is not THAT expensive...

 

slightly OT; i remember when i was on an AK flight last year, i had to do some quick calculation so i used my hp... my hp was new then and equipped with flight-safe mode.... a gentleman next to me, being a responsible citizen, told me that i could not use the hp in-flight... i smiled and explained to him about the flight-safe mode... and he ended up belek-belek (playing around with) my nice phone

Oh man, Oh man!!!! I am now worried that next time AK will be charging RM20 per handphone!!!!! , just like they did with luggage!!! <_>

[Pieter C. 5]

EU To Harmonize In-Flight Mobile Calls

 

April 7, 2008

"Hi, I'm on a plane" will be increasingly overheard on flights -- much to the annoyance of some passengers -- as the European Commission on Monday unveiled a pan-EU approach to licensing in-flight calls.

 

The EU executive is harmonizing the use of mobile communications on aircraft in EU airspace so that an estimated 90 percent of passengers who carry a mobile can make and receive calls, text messages and use email.

 

The aim is to provide a licensing "one-stop shop" for airlines and avoid a patchwork of approaches emerging as in-flight calls using personal mobile phones start to take off.

 

"One regulatory decision for all European airspace was required for this new service to come into being," said EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding.

 

Reding has stepped in to cap the price of mobile calls made on land in the 27 nation bloc and wants to ensure callers in the air will not be ripped off either.

 

The industry will be given a chance to show it can offer competitive services before any possible intervention.

 

"Now we expect operators to be transparent and innovative in their price offerings. However, if consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take off," Reding said.

 

Passenger phones would be linked to an on-board network that connects to the ground via satellite so that aircraft equipment is not affected.

 

Phones will have to be switched off for take-off and landing, with usage only above 3000 metres. Passengers would be billed in the usual way.

 

The Commission expects the service to be popular as it will be cheaper than the back-of-seat satellite services.

 

Reding said airlines should ensure passengers are not disturbed by people on the phone and that they can enjoy what her spokesman called "zones of tranquility".

 

"It's common sense airlines offer that. The Commission will not regulate on this issue, which is a fact of modern life," the spokesman told a regular news briefing.

 

British communications watchdog Ofcom is to allow airlines to offer mobile use on board in line with the EU approach. Air France is already trialling the use of mobiles in-air.

 

Reding's measures will harmonize and simplify the technical requirements for using mobile phones and the way EU states will grant national licenses to airlines.

 

An aircraft registered in France or Spain would be able to offer mobile communications services to passengers when flying over Germany or Hungary without having to apply for additional national licenses.

 

EU states have six months to introduce two measures:

 

-- a recommendation or non-binding set of guidelines that lay down a harmonized approach to licensing;

 

-- a Commission decision that harmonizes technical parameters of onboard equipment for in-flight mobile phone use throughout the EU.

 

Non-EU airlines can also use the one-stop licensing system.

 

(Reuters)

 

No more time to take a nap when tired, I guess

 

[Wilber Tan 0]

i heard something about handphone for air asia in fm news just now..

[Ahmad M 1]

It's against the law to drive and use a handphone at the same time, I wonder if there will be a law against flying and using the handphone now?

[Kenneth T 0]

If thats the case, then its a breakthrough in the aviation industry.