In-Flight Cell Phone Ban May Remain in Place

The once-highflying idea of letting passengers use their wireless phones on airplanes is about to be grounded.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin is recommending the FCC drop its tentative plan to lift its ban on in-flight cellphone use, three agency officials say. They asked to remain anonymous because the proposal is still being considered.

Most of the agency's five commissioners support the recommendation, the FCC officials say.

The idea, proposed with much fanfare in late 2004, has been throttled by concerns about interference with cellphone calls on the ground and a lack of interest by both wireless providers and the public. The Federal Aviation Administration also is reviewing whether in-flight cellphone use would disrupt airplane navigation gear.

The FCC has long worried that wireless calls at 35,000 feet would clog hundreds of on-ground towers at once. That hurdle was expected to be remedied by a plan to send passengers' cellphone signals to a small airplane antenna, known as a pico cell. The antenna would then relay calls to earthbound towers over spectrum -- earmarked just for air-to-ground use -- won by AirCell in an FCC auction last year.

But tests conducted last year by CTIA, a wireless association, showed that in-flight calls still cause interference, especially if the pico cell couldn't recognize the passenger's cellphone signal, says CTIA Vice President Chris Guttman-McCabe.

AirCell CEO Jack Blumstein says the interference issues can be fixed. The larger obstacle, he says, is a lack of enthusiasm by both consumers and wireless industry players for in-flight cellphone use. In a USA TODAY survey in 2005, 68% of respondents favored keeping the ban. Consumers have voiced concerns that cellphone chatting by air-travel neighbors would be disruptive.

Major wireless providers and AirCell are more interested in providing less-obtrusive broadband services, Blumenstein says. A $10-per-trip AirCell service slated to roll out by early 2008 would let passengers use Wi-Fi-equipped laptops to e-mail, surf the Web and access corporate networks. JetBlue, meanwhile, has said it may introduce an in-flight e-mail and text-messaging service later this year.

"We've always been interested in broadband Internet and e-mail, not voice," Blumenstein says.

Blumenstein says interest in in-flight cellphone use could be revived if a European rollout of the service this year is successful. And Guttman-McCabe says wireless carriers would be supportive if interference glitches are resolved.

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Contributing: Roger Yu

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