Mxsmanic wrote:
"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk at wow way d0t com writes:

Except, of course, that very few people have cell phones anymore (at least,
as defined by the regulations that prohibit "cell phones" in the air).

What kind of phones do they have?

The FCC distinguishes between the regulations that govern the original
cellular band around 800 MHz and the newer PCS band near 1900 MHz.
Most sections of the regulations look identical for operation in these
two regions of the RF spectrum, but the prohibition on airborne use is
absent from the newer PCS regulation. So use of a "cellular" phone
using the PCS band while in a private plane should be ok, but you may
encounter reception problems for various technical reasons (the base
station antennas are optimized for coverage near the ground and are
concentrated along highways and urban areas). But many current phones
will automatically switch to the original cellular band if no carrier
is found on the PCS bands - and that would violate the FCC rules.

The most common portable telephone system in the world is GSM, and
it's a cellular system.

GSM is a particular technology that can be used in either the cellular
or PCS bands, and the frequencies differ a bit in other countries
(Europe uses 900 MHz and 1800 MHz). Other technologies used for "cell"
phones include CDMA, TDMA, and the older analog AMPS. All are
"cellular" in the sense of dividing an area into multiple cells and
reusing the available bandwidth to increase the number of calls that
can be carried. But the rules differ depending on the frequency being
used and the country where the service is offered.

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