[windows2000] OT: FCC to Allow Wireless Access on Planes
- From: "Jim Kenzig http://thethin.net" <jimkenz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: windows2000@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 15 Dec 2004 11:36:24 -0800 (PST)
Cool!
JK
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=542&u=/ap/20041215/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fcc_air_travelers&printer=1
FCC to Allow Wireless Access on Planes
27 minutes ago
By GENARO C. ARMAS, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Federal regulators voted Wednesday to give airline passengers
high-speed Internet connections while they fly.
The unanimous vote by the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites)
means air travelers could be surfing the Web by 2006.
"If there is a theme for this meeting, it is that we want (new technologies) on
the land, in the air, and on the sea" FCC (news - web sites) Chairman Michael
Powell said. "We are pushing the frontiers in order to bring the information
age to all corners of the world."
The FCC also voted to solicit comments from the public about ending the ban on
in-flight use of cell phones. Among the issues to consider are whether
passengers want to be surrounded by cell phone conversations.
"The ability to communicate is a vital one, but good cell phone etiquette is
also essential," Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein said. "Our job is to see if
this is possible and then let consumers work out the etiquette."
David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, a passenger
advocacy group, said allowing Internet access would "make business travelers
more efficient and while away the time for a lot of other passengers. This is
all the wave of the future here."
Currently, the only way passengers on domestic flights can communicate with the
ground is through phones usually built into the seat backs. That service isn't
very popular: It costs far more than conventional or cell phones ? about $3.99
a minute ? and the reception often is poor.
Of the three companies that initially offered that service on commercial jets,
only Verizon Airfone remains. It has phones on about 1,500 jets.
The FCC approved a measure to restructure how frequencies for such
"air-to-ground" services are used and allow the airlines to offer wireless
high-speed Internet connections.
Left undecided was the issue of how many companies the FCC would allow, through
an auction, to offer such services. Verizon Airfone maintains that letting one
company handle the service would ensure the best quality.
Others, including Boeing Co. and AirCell, argue for two competitors to prevent
one company from having a monopoly. FCC officials said the auction would take
place within a year.
Once plans are completed and planes outfitted with the equipment, high-speed
Internet access might be found on commercial domestic flights by 2006, said
Jack Blumenstein, chairman and CEO of Louisville, Colo.-based AirCell.
The timeline on when air travelers would be able to start using cell phones in
flight is murkier, in part because both the FCC and the Federal Aviation
Administration (news - web sites) ban the practice.
The FCC took up the issue Wednesday in an effort to start public discussion,
and commissioners might eventually relax the rules or lift the ban entirely. Of
most concern to FCC officials is how using a cell phone in an airplane would
interfere with cell phone use on the ground.
The FAA (news - web sites) concern is over whether airborne cell phone could
interfere with a plane's navigation and electrical systems, agency spokeswoman
Laura Brown said. The technology used on seat-back phones and being considered
for use for wireless Internet hookups causes no such interference.
The FAA has commissioned a private, independent firm to study the issue.
Results aren't due until 2006. The FAA will not make its decision on cell phone
use until after the study is completed, Brown said.
Allowing high-speed Internet access and cell phone use on planes could offer
cash-strapped airline companies a new source for revenues, said Doug Wills,
spokesman for the Air Transport Association, the major airlines' trade group.
Still, airlines must weigh the demand for such service against the desire of
other passengers for a quiet cabin, Wills said. "Some people see a cell-free
environment as a good thing," he said.
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