Australia to allow mobile phone use in planes
For better or for worse, the Australian Communications and Media Authority is proposing an amendment to the Mobile Phone Jammer Prohibition that would permit cell phone use on domestic and international flights. An 18-month long trial of the pico cell technology used for in-flight cellular communications was deemed successful with no reported complaints of interference to either the plane’s avionics system or ground cellular networks. Both Qantas and V Australia have each announced plans to offer in-flight SMS and GPRS services and are anxiously awaiting these rule changes so they can expand the technology from a single test airplane to fleet-wide deployment. Bravo to Australia for pushing this technology forward and kudos to Qantas and V Australia for offering only SMS and data services. We like getting SMS and GPRS but don’t fancy listening to the bloke next to us telling his mate how he was as full as a boot while watching some aerial ping pong and spent the whole night liquid laughing. What a dill!
[via IntoMobile]
Tags: Air, airplane, australia, cell phone, cellular, domestic, inteference, international, pico technology, qantas, travel, v australia
yeah… qantas never crashed.
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Didn’t one of its planes just fall from the sky because someone was using a blue-tooth mouse (allegedly)?
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It came out on Tuesday that the almost 200 meter nosedive was not the result of interference from consumer electronics. Instead, it was the result of a faulty onboard computer system that was sending incorrect information to the flight control system.
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yeah, because we can all get reception at 33,000 feet!
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@andy
well actually, with this pico cell technology, you can get reception at 33,000 feet. It uses a base station on board the plane that creates an area of cell phone coverage about the size of the cabin. Signals are transmitted from your phone to the base station, to a satellite, and finally to the surface.
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Well done BGR, nice use of Aussie Slang…
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Turn it up BGR - you know the Blackberry Bold ate my baby. We all love this blog down under!
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it should read…
….but don’t fancy listening to the bloke next to us telling his mate how he was full of pi$$ while watching some AFL and spent the whole night on the turps…
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