Inflight mobile demand to remain low

The aviation industry has recently moved from implementing a total ban of mobile phones on flight to fully embracing its usage, with several airliners signing up with technology partners to provide a suite of mobile telephony services onboard.

Paul Charles, former communications director at Virgin Atlantic, said this change in sentiments was the result of the completion of various trials, allowing airlines to now be certain mobile phones can be used safely onboard aircrafts.

Charles noted: "Previously, they were not sure how many people can use mobile phones at any single time to ensure flight systems were not disrupted, but they have never been unsafe [to use] onboard.

"Airlines are constantly looking at when they can introduce mobile services onboard," he added. "We are now entering a period where they are starting to use second phase systems from suppliers which are much more reliable."

Major European and Asia-Pacific airlines including Singapore Airlines have signed up with inflight connectivity providers such as AeroMobile and OnAir to offer their passengers mobile telephony services.

When turned on during flights, mobile phones will detect the provider's network--just as it would when roaming terrestrially--and calls will be charged to the passenger through their mobile service provider. Fees could range from US$2 to US$5 per minute.

Airlines such as Cathay Pacific and Emirates, which are partnering AeroMobile to provide mobile telephony services, are refitting their aircrafts with Panasonic's eXPhone system which manages radio frequencies and power levels of transmitting personal electronic devices to ensure there is no disruption or interference with the aircraft's navigation system.

AeroMobile's chief commercial officer, Adla Worobec, explained: "Once switched on, the mobile devices can connect to the onboard AeroMobile GSM/GPRS/EDGE network through the Panasonic eXPhone pico-cell, which is effectively a mobile phone 'mast' onboard the aircraft.

"Calls and data are transmitted via satellite to the ground and then passed on to the terrestrial networks," she said.

OnAir works with Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband fourth-generation satellites and partners Monaco Telecom for ground infrastructure.

Ban not always technical
But, even without these technologies, some passengers still use their mobile phones onboard and there have been reported cases where even flight attendants had flouted the rule--without causing any serious impact on the aircraft.

According to Charles, who is now the COO of Lewis PR, airlines require all devices to be switched off during takeoff and landing because they want the passengers' full attention so they know what to do during an emergency.

Worobec concurred: "Airline operators forbid the use of all personal electronic devices during the critical phase of flight [takeoff and landing] in conjunction with the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) [regulation].

"Such regulations are also in place to ensure passengers give their full attention to crew safety announcements," she added. "AeroMobile network is only switched on at pre-determined altitude...[it]is also automatically disabled prior to landing with instructions to passengers to switch off their phones."

Technicalities aside, Charles noted that the ban on mobile phone usage onboard is not totally a safety issue but rather, one that concerns the passenger's wellbeing in the cabin.

"On a short-haul flight, it is very awkward and uncomfortable to have a plane full of passengers on the phone texting and making calls," he said. "On long-haul journeys, especially those in business class, passengers have said they don't want the use of mobile phones because it is very annoying and irritating."

"People like the fact that they are in a 'haven', the fact that they cannot be reached [on the plane], and that's why some airlines have only [provided] data but not mobile telephony services," he added.

This is the case for American carriers, where a number of airlines such as JetBlue and Delta offer inflight data access but restrict passengers from making calls onboard.

Is it really safe?
The FAA has banned mobile phone usage for years, citing interference with aircraft systems due to poor or missing shielding, thereby, causing catastrophic failure of the control mechanisms.

A study released in 2006 by the Carnegie Mellon University, which looked at data over three months, suggested that 25 incidents of interference with aircraft communications a year can be traced back to mobile phone usage.

According to a Reuters article, the Inflight Passenger Communications Coalition was set up to lobby for an overturn of the ban, but it remains "an uphill battle" for the U.S. Congress to approve inflight mobile phone usage despite the technological improvements.

Apart from safety concerns, advocates of the ban also cited security issues concerning the possibility of terrorists detonating bombs using phones.

When quizzed on other security issues involved with inflight communications, AeroMobile's Worobec said: "Some regulators in certain countries that we overfly do insist on the same precautions they take with terrestrial communications over GSM networks and the Internet. These vary from country to country."

In terms of demand, Charles believes the take-up rate for voice calls may not be high due to cost. He added: "Business passengers also want their peace and quiet to be able to do their work, not just talk to somebody [on the plane], unless it is an emergency".

He noted that passengers will be comfortable enough with data access, and this trend will remain for the next two to three years.