Texting whilst miles high could soon be the new trend.
Australian airline passengers will soon be allowed to use their iPhones and other mobile phones whilst on flights after restrictions were eased.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) made the ruling to bring Australia in line with other countries that already allow passengers to “tweet” and text whilst on flights.
The ACMA checked with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) about the safety of using such devices whilst on aircraft and the CASA reported back that it found no technical evidence to suggest that limited usage of mobile phones during flights would cause any problems.
But other passengers needn’t fear that they will be subjected to the kind of mobile earache that happens on other forms of public transport, as users will not be able to make calls. They can however use the internet, text and check on emails.
It is now up to the airlines to decide if they want the mobile communication services on their aircraft to allow passengers access to their mobiles.
There should be no danger of the phones interfering with terrestrial communications networks as the phones will not be allowed to link up with terrestrial communications. A special device called a pico-cell will be installed which will block signals from the ground reaching mobiles whilst allowing transmission via satellite.
Due to the cost of installing the service however, passengers will have to pay to “tweet” and this could prove costly. Just sending a standard text could cost ten times the price of sending a text on the ground. I’ve a feeling that texting “I’m 10,000 feet above Australia, just starting descent into Sydney!” will soon lose its appeal once phone owners get their bill!
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