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Ability to use cellphones in flight gets closer in Europe
European regulators have dropped the ban on in-flight cellphone calls, but passengers' ability to chat will depend on which airline they fly.
European Union regulators on Monday loosened the rules on cellphone service, a satellite-based technology that can be turned on by a captain at about 10,000 feet. It also can be turned off at any time.
The ban remains in place in the United States, so U.S. airlines aren't affected.
Air France last week became the first international airline to offer mobile service as part of a six-month test to gauge customer response.
Other carriers, however, are shying away from the feature, saying that passengers don't want chatter and ring tones invading their space.
"People don't really want this," says Martin Riecken, spokesman for Germany-based Lufthansa.
Of the two major customer surveys that Lufthansa conducted in 2006, both revealed an overwhelming desire for chatter-free flights, he says.
Many people consider the cabin their last refuge from cellphones, especially on long flights, and they want it to stay that way, he says.
For now, Lufthansa hopes to revive in-flight Internet service to let passengers check e-mail and surf the Web.
The service vanished when the Boeing-owned provider, Connexion, went out of business in late 2006.
Virgin Atlantic is also interested in offering data-only service, believing that most people want to check e-mail on their BlackBerry or other mobile devices rather than talk on their phones, says Lauren Verrusio, an airline spokeswoman.
Deciding whether to offer the service rests in the hands of the airlines within the 27-country EU.
British Airways is in the early stages of researching cellphone use, says Michele Kropf, an airline spokeswoman.
"We've done some preliminary surveying of passengers," she says. "What they feel about it is key in our decision."
On April 2, Air France began allowing voice calls on 123-passenger Airbus A318 flights after a three-month test of data calls since December. The technology allows up to 12 cellphone calls to be made simultaneously.
Air France plans to complete testing of both data-only and voice cellphone calls in mid-June and will make a decision sometime afterward, says Marina Tymen, a spokeswoman for Air France.
So far, the data-only calls have been popular with passengers, but they're still measuring cellphone calls, she says.
Most people make short calls, and they're surprisingly polite, she says.
"Contrary to what everybody thinks, when you are on the airplane, you are whispering. You are not yelling," she says. "They are putting their hand on their mouth, and they're just saying, 'Guess where I'm calling you from,' or 'Don't forget to buy the bread.' They are not telling them about the movie they saw on TV."
Passengers typically find out that they'll be able to turn on their cellphone and use it to talk to someone on the ground only at cruising altitude, when they're seated and the cabin crew makes a special announcement, Tymen says.
Each time, she says, passengers are surprised.
"They make curious faces because they're not sure they understand," Tymen says.
2008 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference Issues Call for Papers
Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 27th annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC), Friday-Sunday, September 26-28, in Chicago, Illinois. Papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings. Authors do not need to attend the conference to have their papers included in the Proceedings. The submission deadline is July 31. The ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an international forum for technically minded radio amateurs to meet and present new ideas and techniques. Paper/presentation topic areas include — but are not limited to – software defined radio (SDR), digital voice, digital satellite communication, digital signal processing (DSP), HF digital modes, adapting IEEE 802.11 systems for Amateur Radio, Global Positioning System (GPS), Automatic Position Reporting System (APRS), Linux in Amateur Radio, AX.25 updates and Internet operability with Amateur Radio networks. Submit papers to Maty Weinberg, KB1EIB, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111 or via e-mail. Papers will be published exactly as submitted, and authors will retain all rights. ARRL will provide additional information on the 2008 DCC as it becomes available.
FCC Fines Colorado Company for Selling “Non-Certified CB Transceivers”
On Friday, March 21, the FCC released a Forfeiture Order in the amount of $7000 to CB Shop and More in Loveland, Colorado for “willful and repeated violations of Section 302(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (Act), and Section 2.803(a)(1) of the Commission’s Rules.” According to the FCC, CB Shop and More was selling a “non-certified Citizens Band (’CB’) transceiver.”
| May, 2008 | |
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