Mobile phones to ring even during flight

European mobile phone users will soon be able to talk and send text messages while in the air, in the latest telecoms innovation being introduced to the EU.

The European Commission yesterday announced new rules to harmonise the conditions for the take-off of this new telephony service on aircraft.

These services will allow passengers to receive and make calls safely with their own mobile phones while flying. Airlines such as Air France are already in a position to introduce this service shortly.

Martin Selmayr, Commission spokesman on telecommunication, said the service will be provided by individual airlines that will need to install special apparatus on board their aircraft so that passengers can connect their phones when airborne. Passengers will be able to use this service through their current mobile phone.

These measures will harmonise the technical and licensing requirements for the use of this service. Passenger phones will be linked to an onboard cellular network connected to the ground via satellite.

The system will at the same time prevent phones from connecting directly to mobile networks on the ground.

This will ensure that transmission powers are kept low enough for mobile phones to be used without affecting the safety of aircraft equipment or the normal operation of terrestrial mobile networks.

The EU executive said that harmonising the technical requirements for the safe deployment of in-flight mobile communication services will enable the national licences granted to individual airlines by the member state in which they are registered to be recognised throughout the EU.

For example, an aircraft registered in Malta will be able to offer mobile communication services to passengers while flying over Germany or Hungary without any additional licensing procedures.

In proposing rules for one of the first truly pan-European telecoms services, the European Commission is responding to demand from passengers to use their mobile phones during flight, as well as from the industry, which would like to respond to this demand.

Following testing of in-flight mobile communication services in some countries, notably in France and Australia, a number of telecom operators and airlines are planning to launch the service this year, bringing connectivity to one of the few situations in life where communication has until now been rather limited.