December 15, 2004

Federal regulators are proposing the use of cell phones to be used on airliners and are taking various steps towards offering high-speed wireless Internet access to passengers' seats on many airlines.

Air travelers will be able to surf the Net while in flight as soon as 2006, and the ban on cell phone use on airplanes could eventually be lifted as well, if moves made Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission pan out.

The FCC is bringing wireless communication to airplanes. Expect wireless Internet in 2006, and possibly the sound of everyone around you yelling into their cell phones.

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It will be a boon to business travelers trying to get work done--and to anyone with a laptop who isn't a fan of the in-flight magazines. But it could strain delicate etiquette in cramped confines.

The FCC voted unanimously to auction off new spectrum that can be used to provide high-speed wireless Internet access.

It also took a strong move toward allowing cell phones to be used on airplanes, calling for public comment on the issue.

That could be good news for many business travelers, and probably bad news for those who like a little peace of mind.

Air travelers who don't like being out of touch with the ground will be able to use wireless connections to check email, surf the Internet, and eventually could make cell phone calls from the air.

To date, wireless devices can't be used once the airplane door is closed.

Both the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration ban in-flight cellular calling.

The primary FCC concern has been possible disruption of cell phone communication on the ground. The FAA's worry is how cell phones might interfere with a plane's navigation and electrical systems.

At Wednesday's meeting, FCC officials proposed allowing passengers to use “off the shelf” wireless handsets and other devices so long as the device operates at its lowest power setting and does not allow unwanted radio frequency emissions to interfere with cellular networks on the ground.

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The FCC will now seek public comment on these issues. It will also work with the FAA to ensure that FCC rules and policies complement the FAA’s efforts.

Engineers at NASA noted at least three years ago that cell phones were being built so well that they emitted remarkably fewer interference-causing spurious radio signals. A NASA engineer requesting anonymity to protect his job testing phones said in a 2000 interview that the airplane cell phone ban would be lifted once earlier generations of cell phones wore down and were tossed out or recycled.

In July, wireless-gear maker Qualcomm and American Airlines conducted a two-hour "proof of concept" flight 30,000 feet over Dallas. They showed off a service using CDMA, or Code Division Multiple Access, technology.

Today, passengers have access to some wireless technology, but it's very expensive. On some domestic flights, passengers can communicate with people on the ground via phones built into seat backs. Verizon is the only company currently offering the service.

Some international airlines have already begun dabbling in wireless Internet. In May, Lufthansa offered high-speed Internet access on a flight from Munich to Los Angeles using a service called Connexion offered by Boeing's mobile communications service.

The airline plans to offer wireless Internet service on all routes between Munich and Frankfurt by 2006. The service will let passengers read e-mail and browse the Web through a network set up on the plane. They will also be able to plug their laptops into outlets at every seat.

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The steady infiltration of wireless technology might not thrill all air travelers. The many who complain about cell phones being used in restaurants, movie theaters could regret losing one of the last cell-phone-free environments.

Airplanes are uncharted territory for practitioners of etiquette-straining "cell yell", in which someone speaking into a cell phone inexplicably raises the volume of their voice regardless of the call's personal nature or who can overhear. The prospect of being one narrow seat away from such callers could frazzle some flyers' nerves.

Airlines are likely to take corrective or mitigating measures. One possible move: designated cell areas, like the smoking and nonsmoking sections planes once had. Such divisions already exist on the ground--Amtrak has created cell-phone-free cars.

Source: C-Net News

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