Airlines Experiment with In-Flight Mobile Calls

Are you terrified of being out of the loop while on board an aeroplane? Or do you draw comfort from the inside of the cabin being one of the few places where you can rest assured you won't hear the Crazy Frog?

Well, it's good news if you fall into the first category, and bad news if you fall into the second.

Two airlines have announced plans to pilot a scheme to allow passengers to use their own mobile phones during flights, which could – if successful – be in general usage by 2007.

bmi and TAP Air Portugal are both undertaking three-month trials in 2006, possibly signalling the beginning of the end for the skies as a mobile-free environment.

Ever since they became widely-used, mobile phones have been controversial for the aviation industry.

Widespread and deep-rooted fears about the capacity of mobile phones to interfere with in-flight navigation and control systems have lead to virtually worldwide bans.

The precise nature and scale of the risk is hard to quantify, however, as opinions are divided.

Quite how much electromagnetic havoc a mobile handset might wreak on a vehicle designed to fly unscathed through lightning storms is unclear.

Most concerns, in fact, revolve around interference with voice communications systems, in respect of which it is known that GSM systems – the mobile telecommunications standard used by most networks outside the USA – can cause a buzzing sound.

As such, while a few airlines have allowed mobile phones to be used in-flight, even they forbid it during take-off and landing, when communication between the ground and the aircraft is vital.

The Civil Aviation Authority, however, has registered around 20 instances of aircraft malfunction related to mobile phone use between January 2000 and August 2005.

"We have had reports from pilots saying that they have had problems with their instruments misreading at the same time as people were using their mobile phones", a spokesperson for the CAA told the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Both bmi and TAP plan to get around these problems by using a new system produced by a company called OnAir, which specialises in in-flight technology.

The OnAir system would see a base station – the radio transmitter/receiver units that manage a "cell" of a mobile network – installed into the aircraft themselves.

Previously, some concerns have revolved around the process by which air passengers' calls might need to switch from one base station's coverage to another.

The on-board base station will ensure that mobile phones transmit at lower power levels, minimising the risk of interference.

Nevertheless, there are still regulatory hurdles to be overcome: the OnAir system is not yet authorised for use in Europe. The company is hoping to secure the necessary authorisations next year.

In addition, anyone using the system is likely to pay a hefty price for doing so.

Speaking at the World Airline Entertainment Association Conference in Hamburg two weeks ago, OnAir chief executive George Cooper suggested that the cost per minute for voice calls would be around $2.50 US (£1.43), which is higher than average international roaming rates.

In July, the consultants Booz Allen Hamilton suggested that growth in in-flight calls would really begin to take off by 2008 – becoming the norm, with 100 million people making calls from aircraft, by 2010.