Ofcom approves in-flight mobile phone use

by Stevie Smith - Mar 27 2008, 11:20

The supposedly deadly risks traditionally associated with passengers making mobile phone calls on planes is no longer a cause for major concern in the aviation world following news that UK communications regulator Ofcom has confirmed its approval of in-flight calls in European airspace.

Ofcom approves the introduction of in-flight mobile phone calls. Credit: Sam/Flickr.

Specifically, Ofcom has announced that airline businesses will be able to offer passengers on-board mobile phone services on all UK-registered aircraft. Passengers travelling on eligible flights will be able to make calls once the plane has passed an altitude height of more than 3,000 metres (approx. 10,000 feet).However, while Ofcom’s approval is a notable forward step for airlines looking to allow passengers to take the convenience of total communication up into the skies with them, any emerging services must first satisfy other regulators based on related hardware.For example, the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) will be required to give its approval on any and all communication systems put forth for aircraft integration, ensuring that they do not pose any kind of operational threat to flight control.“The safety of passengers is paramount and mobile systems on aircraft will only be installed when they have secured approval by EASA and the CAA in the UK,” said Ofcom in an official statement. “If such approval has been secured it will be a matter for individual airlines to judge whether there is consumer demand for these services.”Usage concerns attributed to mobile phone use while on an aircraft stem from research published by the CAA in 2003, which indicated that mobile phone signals interfered with a plane’s navigational bearings by as much as five degrees. “It’s down to the airlines to decide whether they want to fit the systems then they would have to get approval for that,” commented a spokesman for the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in a BBC report. “None have formally approached us yet.” The CAA spokesman also went on to say that airlines opting in for the introduction of in-flight mobile calls would also have to deliver convincing operational procedures and training exercises for their cabin crew regarding correct usage.Based on current progress, it is likely that on-board mobile services will soon be provided through the integration of ‘pico cell’ base stations, which will only function once past a certain altitude and may be deactivated once the plane leaves European airspace. The ‘pico cell’ base station approach would effectively create local mobile coverage confined to the plane, with on-board reception maintained by routing through a system of terrestrial networks and satellite links.Ofcom has outlined that airline mobile phone systems will be initially limited to 2G network connections but, if deemed successful, could well become enhanced by joining the much quicker and more desirable 3G network. Unsurprisingly, associated usage prices related to passengers calling via their mobiles while in-flight will be higher than similar charges made while on the ground.

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