RSSFCC Sets Airline Wireless Auction Date
By the Betanews Staff | Published January 12, 2006, 5:51 PM
The FCC said Thursday that it had set May 10 as the date it would begin to sell airwaves that communications providers could use to provide advanced services to airline passengers. The frequencies would come from the phones in the back of airline seats, currently operated by Verizon. The airline industry says cheaper on-board telephones could result from the auction, or other wireless services could make use of the bandwidth.
Verizon plans to bid for the frequencies in the auction, which it says would take approximately one year to convert for use in wireless broadband. Other carriers, such as Cingular, have not commented whether they plan to bid. Also being considered by the FCC are plans to allow wireless phone use on planes. However, FAA approval would also be needed, and the agency has remained against such a change in policy.
I hope these will cost a little, and hopefully it's around $10 USD.
If it's like $20+, then I won't do it.
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|i thought this is wireless for date.
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|So far, not one person has posted in favor of cell phones use on airplanes. Everyone should contact the FCC (http://www.fcc.gov/contacts.html) and let them know of your opinions. If they haven't made a decision yet, now is the time.
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|How annoying can it get?
Calls allowed on a plane?
I'll shoot myself!
Definitely not needed, thank you very much.
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|Can you just imagine being on an 8 hour flight with everyone making calls? How annoying is that gonna be?????
How many customers will want a "call-free" flight?
Similar to trains where they have a "no cell phones" carriage...?
Sure, (widespread) calling from the plane would be useful but there would be some people who'd abuse it and spend the entire flight calling their friends or running their business.
That's not to mention the noise of people shouting over the engine noise etc.
If there's one way to really piss me off, it would be 8 hours trapped on a plane with morons constantly shouting down their cell phones.
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|Hopefully, there are "mobile use periods", just 10 minutes per hour. Everyone has to get all their calls in during that time. I would be ok with a compromise like that.
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|Oh please let this not happen. Cell phones conversations, no matter how hard you try, are one-sided (whch makes it irritating to have as background noise),and typically louder. This is just going to be another instance where technology will hurt us. Now can we get rid of the bane of life, those push-to-talk phones!
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|The use of phones on an airplane has long since been the discussion of many an executive and FCC. In the early days of Analog phones, they were interferring with onboard controls, due the microwave transmission. Digital phones, don't have this problem, and they power is much less, and they don't interfere. Despite this fact, the FCC still regards phones as "dangerous". I for one, don't want to see phones in use on an airplane, because I like that as quiet time.. Yes, I know people can have discussions, but people are inconsiderate when they talk on their phones, they are loud, obnoxious, and they tend to ramble stuff, I just don't need to hear. In person, people have a much more polite demeanor and they don't feel the need to yell to other party, that's why I don't want phones.
Supermarket, Walmart, work, restaurants, I get deluged with phones all around me, all the time... If this phone use on a plane is allowed, that's a captive audience, and you can't get away from the offenders.. so to me, that's not fair, but I guess I can deal with it, if I have to. I am against use of phones for this reason on a plane.
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