BTW, some of Ryanair's fleet has been upgraded with a mobile phone relay. It is a DO-160 approved piece of equipment that acts as a mobile phone receiver, and then relays the transmission to ground stations via satellite communication.
The relay maybe approved, but is my mobile phone?
[...] Your mobile phone operates on a lower transmission wattage due to the close proximity of the receiver, reducing the possibility of interference.
Interesting one this...one that I've wondered about...I use two mobile phones. One of them does not have a roaming agreement with the company RyanAir uses, so instead of talking to the relay station, it continues 'searching' for a network for which it does have a roaming partner. I wonder how this is different than previous? Does it in some way still talk to the relay onboard instead of boosting it's own power to find a suitable network?