FCC talking about relaxing cell phone rules

On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 08:48:10 -0500, "Reid & Julie Baldwin"
wrote:

The news lately has mentioned that the FCC is meeting to discuss relaxing
the ban on using cell phones in airplanes. Most of the news coverage focuses
on the implications for airline passengers. They said that the FAA would
also
have to change rules before airline passengers could use cell phones.
The FCC is mainly concerned with interference with ground based use.
The FAA is mostly concerned about interference with aircraft electronics.
Does the FAA prohibit cell phone use in private aircraft, or is that just an
FCC rule? If it becomes legal to use a cell phone from the air, I may have
to look into one of those headset adapters for cell phones.

As far as using a cell phone on a commercial airliner at any of the
flight levels, I would find it hard to believe that they would get any
useful reception. I have attempted to use a cell phone while in the
middle of a part 91 flight at FL210 in an attempt to get in touch with
our mechanic because we were having some issues with our left engine.
My phone has always had reliable reception almost every place I go, so
I was not surprise when I saw that I had 3 bars showing good service,
but by the time I hit my speed dial, I was out of reception, then back
in, then out then back..... We were cruising fast enough that I was
jumping in and out of service that it made the use of the phone
impossible. So we ended up making a precautionary landing at another
airport to have the issue looked at by another mechanic.

Now flying a little 172 or something comparable at low altitudes, then
I think you would be successful.


Scott D.

Jose wrote:

Didn't know that. Can you point to the exact wording?

I researched this issue back in August and posted the results here.
http://tinyurl.com/6zary

Feel free to peruse the FCC regs, yourself. They're online at
http://www.fcc.gov

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

Jose wrote:

Didn't know that. Can you point to the exact wording?

Can't find it anymore - I used to be able to search the regulations, but they've
broken them up into small chunks now. As I recall, it was an explicit statement
to the effect that the prohibition on cell phone usage in the air does not apply
to PCS devices. The regs for broadband PCS are at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/w...7cfr24_03.html
Regs for cell phones are at
http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/w...7cfr22_03.html

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

Entirely coincidental:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141568,00.html

At least there are *some* people willing to stand up to inconsiderate
behavior.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

Entirely coincidental:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141568,00.html

At least there are *some* people willing to stand up to inconsiderate
behavior.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

If I read the same thing you read, this is a ploy to placate the business
traveler (read "airline"). As I understand it, the airliner will have some
kind of server which receives signals from the passenger's handheld and
relays them to and from ground stations. Far cry from telling everyone and
their brother that they can use their Nokia or whatever to call cells
directly.

Bob Gardner

"Reid & Julie Baldwin" wrote in message
...
The news lately has mentioned that the FCC is meeting to discuss relaxing
the ban on using cell phones in airplanes. Most of the news coverage
focuses
on the implications for airline passengers. They said that the FAA would
also
have to change rules before airline passengers could use cell phones.
The FCC is mainly concerned with interference with ground based use.
The FAA is mostly concerned about interference with aircraft electronics.
Does the FAA prohibit cell phone use in private aircraft, or is that just
an
FCC rule? If it becomes legal to use a cell phone from the air, I may have
to look into one of those headset adapters for cell phones.

"John T" wrote in message
m...
C Kingsbury wrote:

Second, those 2-5 hours I'm
in the aluminum tube are the last hours of my life when my
boss/clients/girlfriend/etc do not expect me to be reachable by phone,
email, or text message. I'd much rather keep it that way.

If you tell me what model phone you have, I'm sure I can help find the
power
switch for you. At the very least, I can help remove the battery.

For whose convenience is the phone: Yours or the people who call you?

If I turn the phone off I'll get an angry message saying "why didn't you
pick up?" The other party may be the boorish one but that doesn't solve my
problem. When I'm on a plane these days I have an excuse for being
unreachable. It's pretty much the last place where that's true.

-cwk.

"Trent Moorehead" wrote in message
...

teenager in action. I'm afraid there is a whole generation of cell phone
morons coming down the pike!


Already happened in Europe. They're well ahead of us when it comes to mobile
phones, technologically and culturally. I used to work for a European
company, and the guys from over there would (a) leave their phones on in
meetings and (b) answer them, frequently leaving the room in the middle of a
discussion to carry on a 10-minute conversation. I'm talking 50-year-old VPs
too, and plenty of the calls were not at all mission-critical.

-cwk.

C Kingsbury wrote:

When I'm on a plane these days I have an excuse for being
unreachable. It's pretty much the last place where that's true.

Yeah. We used to vacation close to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. One
of the advantages to doing so was that cell phones and pagers don't work there.
On top of that, most of the places we stayed had no phones.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

C Kingsbury wrote:

Already happened in Europe. They're well ahead of us when it comes to mobile
phones, technologically and culturally. I used to work for a European
company, and the guys from over there would (a) leave their phones on in
meetings and (b) answer them, frequently leaving the room in the middle of a
discussion to carry on a 10-minute conversation. I'm talking 50-year-old VPs
too, and plenty of the calls were not at all mission-critical.

The pagers with keyboards were real popular at BellSouth. Sit down in a meeting
with their executives and look around. At any point in time, half of them would
be punching away at their pagers.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.