Originally Posted by
BARKINGMAD
Let us pray the SATCOM is restricted to crew operational use, otherwise the sounds of dozens of posers shouting "Hello darling, I'm on the plane!" and then droning on ad nauseam about trivia, is likely to spark off even more air rage than we have now.
And you can't grab the offending gadget and chuck it out of the window, like you could on those old-fashioned trains...............................! ! ! ! !
Simple fix and make airlines money. Set up a pico cell in the aircraft this will be what the cell phones in the aircraft connect to as the closest reliable signal. Like WiFi the pico cell activates only above 10,000ft. The pico cell software inhibits phone call setup but not the SMS (text) messaging or data. The data is charged at 'roaming' rates set by the airline. The effect is that the phones connect but at extremely low power meaning extremely small interference/EMR hazard, SLF can text away with anyone and if they want to use cell data rather than WiFi they subsidize the airline. But they can't call home and say loudly "
I'm on the plane!"