By Andy McCue, 19 June 2007 12:16
NEWS
The European air-safety body has given the green light for airborne GSM equipment to be fitted by airlines planning to allow passengers to use mobile phones in-flight.
The launch of in-flight mobile services by several airlines had been hit by delays in the award of the safety certificate by the European Aviation Safety Authority. Air France will now be the first airline to install the GSM equipment on an A318 Airbus short-haul aircraft and is due to start offering the service from July.
For the first three months of the six-month Air France trial passengers will only be able to use the connectivity for data, such as text messaging or sending emails from a BlackBerry or similar device. For the second three months passengers will be able to use their mobiles to make voice calls during a flight.
Wireless from A to Z
Click on the links below to find out moreĀ
A is for Antivirus
B is for Bluetooth
C is for The Cloud
D is for dotMobi
E is for Email
F is for FMC
G is for GPS
H is for HSDPA
I is for i-mode
J is for Japan Air
K is for Korea
L is for LBS
M is for M2M
N is for NFC
O is for Operating systems
P is for Pubs
Q is for QoS
R is for Roaming
S is for Satellite
T is for TV
U is for UMTS
V is for Virgin
W is for WiMax
X is for XDA
Y is for Yucca
Z is for Zigbee
Later this year UK airline BMI and TAP of Portugal will also trial the in-flight mobile technology on a single aircraft before any wider deployment. No-frills airline Ryanair will be the first fleet deployment of the technology across its Boeing 737 planes.
The in-flight mobile technology has been developed by OnAir, a joint venture between Airbus and airline industry IT body Sita. The on-board equipment incorporates technology from Tenzing, the company that pioneered in-flight email, while Inmarsat will be providing the satellite communications.
A picocell located on board the Airbus aircraft will pick up mobile phone signals via a 'leaky cable' antenna running along the length of the plane. The signal is then converted, sent to a satellite and routed to the ground network. The service is expected to initially cost between $2.30 and $2.50 for making in-flight calls. For texts and emails, no formal pricing plan has been released by the airlines.
OnAir CEO Benoit Debains said in a statement: "This certification validates the integrity of the work that Airbus has done in developing and integrating technology from best of breed suppliers. This... is a major milestone in the process of bringing our service to market."
Comments
There are 6 comments. Join the discussion
1. Steve Booth
As if there weren't already enough reasons not to want to fly!
2. Anonymous
So now I've got to put up with people shouting down their phones on early morning flights as well as the usual inane, loud as possible "I'm so important" banter with their business colleagues crap I already have to put up with as I'm trying to get some kip or read the paper...
3. anonymous
Aaggh! With about 200 or more people on your average flight, there's going to be a constant stream of annoying ringtones going off throughout the flight. I just can't imagine how bad longhaul flights will be!
Flights without this "service" will probably become more popular.
4. Mr Don
A flight is one of the last excuses for getting some peace and switching the damn phone off. Colleagues/customers etc accept that they cannot get you when you are flying. Now there will be no excuse to be out of touch.
In addition to this, the noise on the plane will rise considerably with the throng of 200 different ringtones, loud self-important business persons and more annoyingly, teenagers who just cant go 5 minutes without updating their mates on the progress of the flight and how hot the steward/stewardess is.
Working remotely from home is looking more appealing, where at least you only get annoyed by the people you love and of course is greener.
5. david wood
Does this mean we will have to sit next to somebody 'rabbiting' away (like they do on the trains) with such key conversations as "Hi Mary, you won't believe it but I'm ringing you from an aeroplane - what time's brunch? Oh, and did you remember to pick up my pants from the dry-cleaners?" "Love U"
Do the airlines plan to provide earplugs as well as sickbags?"
6. Barbara
I am very upset that this has received the green light. As a retired flight attendant it was frustarting enough to try to get a passenger's attention when they had their ear phones plugged in. Now the poor in flight crew will have to compete with ringing phones and self important business men and women who can't possibly be out of touch for a few hours. How did we ever manage to get anything done before the cell phone craze took over ?? Heaven forbid we should have a few hours of peace and quiet while flying from A to B.