Mobile Phones - Take to the Air

The "no smoking" light on certain aircraft may soonsimilar to typical roaming service charges.
be replaced with a "service indicator" for mobileIt's important to note though, that coverage will vary
phones, as onboard mobile phones use becomes thefrom country to country, as it depends on whether
norm upon flights throughout most of Europe.or not that countries' government has deemed phone
Since their introduction, mobile phone use aboarduse on aircraft safe.
planes has been banned on the premise that phoneWith regards to Europe, both Spain and Portugal are
signals cause interference with sensitive aircraftyet to agree to the service.
equipment, similar to the situation within hospitals.Similar plans are in the pipeline for British airlines, with
This is because when a mobile phone is unable toboth BA and Virgin currently assessing customer
easily attain a signal, as is the case when airborne; itdemand for such services.
automatically boots its signal strength.It has been identified that passengers may not
However, a couple of European airline companiesappreciate other passengers' phones going off or
have recently implemented new technologies andloud conversation, especially on long haul flights which
started trialling services that allow their passengers tomany passengers prefer to sleep through.
use their mobile phones.Therefore, before the service is adopted in the UK,
Certain flights boarding in Norway and France will nowfurther surveys are going to be conducted so that
allow the use of mobile phones when the plain isairlines are able to get a clear picture of what their
above 3,000 meters. The cost for this service iscustomers do an do not want.