Reply #71: Some Truth, Some Fear Of Competition [View All]

I've accidentally left my cellphone on while crusing at 35,000 feet and saw the time on the phone's clock change to the next time zone...getting its signal from the ground.

The problem isn't if the signal can make it from the plane...it's the reliability and quality. Who hasn't had their cellphone calls cut off by moving into the wrong location or changing directions....this is one of the biggest problems with cellphones on planes. Since the plane is so high and relies on line of sight the cellphone signal in the plane would be constantly jumping celltowers and systems and create a real mess.

The airlines have had their own in flight cellphones for years and part of the reason they didn't want private cellphones was so they could monopolize this business. For an industry that can't break even, this is a big revenue maker that they want to control. I just read that several airlines are talking about introducing cellphone/internet in flight service (for a fee, of course) later this year.

The "messing with plane functionality" is now an old wives tale. It goes back to the days when planes had primitive radio and guidence systems that could be disrupted by the simple tuning of an old AM Radio. This problem became moot with the advent of integrated circuits and now digital systems. The real concern is that a cellphone signal could mess up the radar tracking system...but even that is highly disputed.