EU About Ready To Allow Phone Calls While Flying

from the let-the-airlines-decide dept

While the US government has basically decided not to allow mobile phone calls from airplanes due to complaints from people worried about sitting next to people who are too chatty, the EU seems to be taking a more reasonable approach. Recognizing that the technology problems with calling from airplanes have basically been solved, the EU is ready to let airlines decide for themselves how they want to handle the issue. In other words, rather than having the government decree that people shouldn't suffer sitting next to half a conversation, why not let the market decide? If people are really annoyed by it, then airlines can simply advertise themselves as "mobile-phone free" or set up "mobile-phone free" sections.

Filed Under: airplanes, in-flight voice, mobile phones

FAA Seconds FCC On Grounding In-Flight Mobile Phone Calls

from the but-what-about-voip? dept

Over the weekend, a story out of the UK began to get some buzz, when an American FAA representative supposedly told a British newspaper that the FAA will not approve in-flight mobile phone calls after the agency received a ton of complaints when it publicly began considering the shift in policy. Of course, this is somewhat meaningless, because the FCC had already said no to the change in policy, and both agencies would likely need to agree before any change went into effect. So, for those of you (and we know there are lots of you) who were terrified by the idea that you might get stuck sitting next to someone jabbering away into a mobile phone for a cross-continent flight... rest easy. Well, rest easy until you realize that voice is just a form of data, and it's only a matter of time until internet access in the sky means the person sitting next you will be jabbering away via Skype for a cross-continent flight no matter what gov't agencies have to say about mobile phones in the sky.

Filed Under: airplanes, in-flight voice, mobile phones, voip
Companies: faa, fcc