Boeing adding cell phone compatibility to some of its airliners by 2013

[donnay]

Boeing adding cell phone compatibility to some of its airliners by 2013

http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/HfXryII3KoXkL9TaK6pupw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en/blogs/technews/ran-630-boeing-787-dreamliner-pr-630w.jpeg
The jets will let you make and receive calls, but governments will have the final say

Could the days of having to turn your cell phone off when flying be nearing an end? Aircraft manufacturer Boeing seem to think so. It's begun the process of outfitting new models of its 747, 777, and 787 airliners with hardware to allow incoming and outgoing calls, with the aim of making them available to airlines by 2013. It even has a kit in the works that will let airlines upgrade existing 787 jumbo jets to support cellular calls.

Boeing joins European aircraft maker Airbus in offering planes boasting built-in cellular technology. Virgin Atlantic began allowing cell phone calls onboard its Airbus A330 jets during transatlantic flights earlier this year.

While this technology sounds like a boon for air travelers who've long awaited the ability to make calls while flying, they shouldn't start celebrating just yet. Whether or not you'll be able to fire up your phone in-flight still depends on the approval of government agencies such as the FAA who'll have the final call on, well, calls from 30,000 feet. For its part, the FAA is still dragging its heels when it comes to allowing the use of electronic devices during takeoff and landing, so it could be a while.


ETA:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/boeing-adding-cell-phone-compatibility-airliners-2013-023456673.html

[DGambler]

I'm confused, didn't people make cell phone calls on 9/11?

[RickyJ]

But we were told that the passengers aboard the hijacked planes on 9/11 used their cell phones to call loved ones on that day. I guess they must have entered a time warp and was able to call back into the past.

[donnay]

I'm confused, didn't people make cell phone calls on 9/11?

Yes indeed, that is what the government told us.

[Bruno]

Could the real reason cell phones are to be turned off at the beginning of a flight be to not be able to prove those calls that day were not possible?

[donnay]

Could the real reason cell phones are to be turned off at the beginning of a flight be to not be able to prove those calls that day were not possible?

I have always thought, and I am no expert, but at the altitude the plane flies (30,000 ft.) and the speed, there is no way to get a signal because the altitude and velocity to make the towers connections just cannot happen. Kind of like being in the mountains and valleys where cell phone connections are sketchy because of tower ranges.

I have read back in 2004, airlines will be able to use satellite with on-board networking to allow cell phones, text messaging, e-mails and internet services while in-flight. I am going to try and dig up the article.

I found it! http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/commercial/The-Race-To-Allow-Airborne-Cell-Phone-Use_1138.html

[LibertyEagle]

Could the real reason cell phones are to be turned off at the beginning of a flight be to not be able to prove those calls that day were not possible?

They have required that cell phones be turned off years before 9-11.

[RickyJ]

They have required that cell phones be turned off years before 9-11.

Do you know why? It has nothing to do with being able to call or not, it is thought that possibly the signals put out by the phone could interfere with the electronics on the plane. That is why they were banned from being on during flight, it was a safety precaution, it had nothing to do with stopping people form calling. But it just so happens that calling from a jet flying at high speeds and high altitude is next to impossible due to the time it requires to connect to a cell tower. By the time the connection is made you are out of range and have to connect to another cell tower, the process repeats again and no call can get through.

[acptulsa]

What goofy so-called 'news' source is responsible for this tripe, donnay?


Boeing joins European aircraft maker Airbus in offering planes boasting built-in cellular technology. Virgin Atlantic began allowing cell phone calls onboard its Airbus A330 jets during transatlantic flights earlier this year.

No, not hardly. Sat phone technology, maybe, is allowing Virgin customers to make calls. But last I heard, it just isn't possible to build a string of cellular towers across the Atlantic Ocean... :rolleyes:

[truelies]

I'm confused, didn't people make cell phone calls on 9/11?

Sure, just not from those ground controlled airplanes which may or may not have rammed the NYC Towers.

[libertariantexas]

I'm confused, didn't people make cell phone calls on 9/11?

Yes, but look what happened:

http://www.tarotwisdomacademy.com/9-11_Pennyslvania.jpg

Clearly, cell phones were the problem.

[VanBummel]

Yes, but look what happened:

http://www.tarotwisdomacademy.com/9-11_Pennyslvania.jpg

Clearly, cell phones were the problem.

Ban cell phones, it's a matter of national security!

[Anti Federalist]

What goofy so-called 'news' source is responsible for this tripe, donnay?



No, not hardly. Sat phone technology, maybe, is allowing Virgin customers to make calls. But last I heard, it just isn't possible to build a string of cellular towers across the Atlantic Ocean... :rolleyes:

It's a satellite connected "router" onboard that mimics a cel tower.

Any roaming capable cel phone can lock onto the signal, it then patches through to satellite that then in turn feeds it into the terrestrial based cel/landline network.

I've got a marine version of this on the ship.

[Anti Federalist]

All electronic devices off below 10,000 feet.

Except the 190 TV screens in the back of every seat.

[fisharmor]

All electronic devices off below 10,000 feet.

Except the 190 TV screens in the back of every seat.

Yeah, this... also, does everyone forget the phone embedded in the seat in front of you?
I had always thought that's how they made calls from the plane - with the phone the plane has on it.
I also thought that's why they banned cellphone use - because there was a phone in the seat in front of you, and if you didn't use it they couldn't amortize the cost of installing them all.

[DGambler]

Not sure if I agree with their assessment, but their findings stand for themselves: hxxp://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/mythbusters/db/transportation/cell-phones-interfere-plane-instruments.html


MYTH: CAN YOUR CELL PHONE INTERFERE WITH A PLANE'S INSTRUMENTS?

Airplane instruments

Finding: BUSTED

Explanation: Never mind what the chatterbox in the seat next to you says about cell phones messing with plane navigation -- those metallic birds are built airtight against foreign signals and operate on entirely different frequencies than cell phones.

So why all the fuss about phones? When you make a call at 10,000 feet, the signal bounces off multiple available cell towers, rather than one at a time. That means too many phone-happy jetsetters might clog up the networks on the ground, which is why the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — not the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) — banned cell use on planes.

If you're just dying to bust out your BlackBerry mid-flight, go international. Some airlines in Europe, the Middle East and Asia now allow cell phone use in planes, but don't hold your breath for the FCC to follow suit.

As seen in "MythBusters: Cell Phones on Planes."

[brandon]

Could the real reason cell phones are to be turned off at the beginning of a flight be to not be able to prove those calls that day were not possible?

No. There's two reasons that you have to turn your phone off. First, they require you to disable all electronics so that there is nothing that can distract you from hearing safety announcements during takeoff and landing. Second, when you are in air your phone has to be in airplane mode because otherwise they would interfere with cell towers on the ground. Moving at that speed at that elevation would result in hundreds of phones constantly jumping from tower to tower and can mess up the systems.

[acptulsa]

Federal Aviation Association? Is mythbusters trying to create a new myth so they'll have something to bust next week?

They make it sound so pleasant, fraternal and, well, downright voluntary...

[Danke]

I'm confused, didn't people make cell phone calls on 9/11?

With the older (and more powerful) analog phones, it was possible. The new small digital phones, nearly impossible.

[mad cow]

The digital phones ping the tower and the tower pings back and if the round trip takes more microseconds than a little over 20 miles one way,you won't connect no matter how strong the signal.

With the old analog phones,I could routinely make calls 50 miles away from a tower.

[Anti Federalist]

With the older (and more powerful) analog phones, it was possible. The new small digital phones, nearly impossible.


The digital phones ping the tower and the tower pings back and if the round trip takes more microseconds than a little over 20 miles one way,you won't connect no matter how strong the signal.

With the old analog phones,I could routinely make calls 50 miles away from a tower.

These are correct.

[DGambler]

No. There's two reasons that you have to turn your phone off. First, they require you to disable all electronics so that there is nothing that can distract you from hearing safety announcements during takeoff and landing.Second, when you are in air your phone has to be in airplane mode because otherwise they would interfere with cell towers on the ground. Moving at that speed at that elevation would result in hundreds of phones constantly jumping from tower to tower and can mess up the systems.

The bolded part above makes no sense to me. If that was the case, no one should be allowed to talk, read a book or sleep during takeoff and landing.