FCC Concerned with In-Flight Use of Cell Phones
Airfrance together with Mobile OnAir already spearheaded the use of cell phones during a flight. This quarter, it already started a trial period on both in-flight data and voice calls. USA, on the other hand, is still not open to the idea of allowing its passengers to use mobile phones on air. The FCC (Federal Communication Commission) still has its doubt on the system that would allow such cell phone use aboard aircrafts without interfering radio communications.
A number of countries are already allowing in-flight cell phone use including Turkey, Malaysia, India and Australia. Freesky Research stated that USA's concern against cell phone on board might cause its passengers to be less productive. A large percent of passengers are business travelers who are likely to use their cell phones or use the Internet to communicate with their associates. The policy against cell phone use on board may cause USA commercial flight passengers to experience several hours of idle time. With such a situation, Freesky Research said that USA might be left behind when other countries are already open to such an idea.
Last year, the FCC already made their decision all clear and loud when they disallow use of cell phones during a flight in all commercial airlines. USA passengers are required to completely turn off their phone whenever they would board an aircraft.
FCC's biggest concerned would be the disruption of radio communications because of interfering cell phone signals. These signals can possibly get in the way of communication between pilots and traffic controllers, which is an important thing to flight safety and security.
Freesky Research has been testing mobile phones for five years and their study shows that with certain devices with specially designed communication system, in-flight cell phone use is a possibility without creating an interference with radio communications.
Europe is already leaps away from the United States in terms of in-flight technology. Mobile OnAir, together with Airfrance, has begun testing its cell phone communication system and offer their passengers in-flight voice and data use with their mobile phones. The OnAir system was approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency and proved to be safe and out of harm. It already started a trial period allowing passenger cell phone use and is currently evaluating their passenger's view on the use of cell phones on board.
