European Commission lets cat out of bag:: In-flight cell phone use OK’d

Most travelers can imagine why they might actually need to make an in-flight call on their mobile phone.
And most travelers would likely acknowledge that they’ve survived thus far without doing so.
The European Commission on Monday decided it would loosen its current ban on the practice, though details remain to be ironed out. One non-technical issue on the minds of airlines:
No one really knows how passengers — perhaps packed to the gills with few frills — will react when moronic, overly loud, one-sided conversations that bracket a flight’s take-off and landing become ubiquitous in the course of a several-hour plane ride.
Europeans — oft-considered the bastions of civilization by Americans — are about to find out.
The EC — the regulatory body for the European Union, a bloc of 27 countries — will seek to unify licenses for such a practice to ensure interoperability among various parties using GSM technology at 1800 MHz, estimated to cover 90% of border-blurring European air travelers.
The move would require the installation of picocells on jets, which would cut off direct links with ground-based networks and connect to a satellite that would handle all in-flight cellular traffic, creating a captive network for fliers. Still to come: those offering the service must set rates. And airlines and their partners — already chomping at the bit — must install the picocells.
BMI, Air France and Ryanair apparently have trials underway already, according to The New York Times, which also reported that outside Europe, Dubai-based Emirates airline may be the first to offer full-fledged service.
Emirate airlines reportedly has asked passengers to keep their phones in silent mode. BMI and Air France reportedly will conduct three-month trials to gauge passengers’ reactions. Germany’s Lufthansa reportedly has surveyed passengers and elected not to initiate service. And the EC has some vague, initial recommendations:
Airlines should create etiquette guidelines “to avoid in-flight flare-ups between closely confined passengers.” Or airlines could restrict use to silent messaging options such as text or e-mail. Or ban usage on night flights. Here’s a Q&A from the Associated Press on the issue.
Though the EC said it would encourage countries bordering the EU to align with the move, the choice of 1800 MHz on the GSM air interface means that most American travelers still will need a SIM card to roam on the airborne networks. Euro-airlines may shut off service as planes make the trans-Atlantic flight to the U.S.
No word yet on whether the Federal Aviation Administration is considering a similar move for domestic airlines, suddenly under the gun for mutual lapses in safety inspections that have grounded hundreds of flights.