FCC talking about relaxing cell phone rules

C Kingsbury wrote:

Already happened in Europe. They're well ahead of us when it comes to mobile
phones, technologically and culturally. I used to work for a European
company, and the guys from over there would (a) leave their phones on in
meetings and (b) answer them, frequently leaving the room in the middle of a
discussion to carry on a 10-minute conversation. I'm talking 50-year-old VPs
too, and plenty of the calls were not at all mission-critical.

The pagers with keyboards were real popular at BellSouth. Sit down in a meeting
with their executives and look around. At any point in time, half of them would
be punching away at their pagers.

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble enterprise.

If it's legal to hold a conversation with somebody (say, in a restaurant or
on a plane), why should it be *illegal* to hold a phone conversation?

Inconsiderate behavior is simply inconsiderate behavior. Legislating or
regulating when you are allowed to speak loudly and otherwise behave
inconsiderate of others around you is doomed to failure - and is indicative
of a country I would not want to live in.

Just because you don't have the spine to ask a loud talker to speak lower
doesn't mean that loud talker should be barred from talking loudly.

Further, I think you do a great disservice to the professionalism of pilots
and crew to suggest that simply having the ability to use a cell phone means
they will be used - much less to the detriment of passenger safety.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

"John T" wrote:
Further, I think you do a great disservice to the professionalism of pilots
and crew to suggest that simply having the ability to use a cell phone means
they will be used - much less to the detriment of passenger safety.

Right...and I'm sure no one would use one while they're driving, either!
HAR!

unicate wrote:

Right...and I'm sure no one would use one while they're driving,
either! HAR!

Yeah, I constantly find myself comparing flying a plane with driving a car.


--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

Entirely coincidental:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141568,00.html

At least there are *some* people willing to stand up to inconsiderate
behavior.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

Entirely coincidental:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141568,00.html

At least there are *some* people willing to stand up to inconsiderate
behavior.

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
____________________

John T wrote:
Entirely coincidental:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,141568,00.html

At least there are *some* people willing to stand up to inconsiderate

behavior.

--
John T

Thanks fo the link. Best part is I know the 2 guys.
Ron

On Wed, 15 Dec 2004 08:48:10 -0500, "Reid & Julie Baldwin"
wrote:

The news lately has mentioned that the FCC is meeting to discuss relaxing
the ban on using cell phones in airplanes. Most of the news coverage focuses
on the implications for airline passengers. They said that the FAA would
also
have to change rules before airline passengers could use cell phones.
The FCC is mainly concerned with interference with ground based use.
The FAA is mostly concerned about interference with aircraft electronics.
Does the FAA prohibit cell phone use in private aircraft, or is that just an
FCC rule? If it becomes legal to use a cell phone from the air, I may have
to look into one of those headset adapters for cell phones.

As far as using a cell phone on a commercial airliner at any of the
flight levels, I would find it hard to believe that they would get any
useful reception. I have attempted to use a cell phone while in the
middle of a part 91 flight at FL210 in an attempt to get in touch with
our mechanic because we were having some issues with our left engine.
My phone has always had reliable reception almost every place I go, so
I was not surprise when I saw that I had 3 bars showing good service,
but by the time I hit my speed dial, I was out of reception, then back
in, then out then back..... We were cruising fast enough that I was
jumping in and out of service that it made the use of the phone
impossible. So we ended up making a precautionary landing at another
airport to have the issue looked at by another mechanic.

Now flying a little 172 or something comparable at low altitudes, then
I think you would be successful.


Scott D.

Now flying a little 172 or something comparable at low altitudes, then
I think you would be successful.


Scott D.

Speaking of, I was flying at 4,500ft over an area where I normally get
reception. I wanted to call a friend and say "look up, I'm flying over
you." I didn't have any reception.

Does anyone know for certain whether a cell phone interferes with nav
or com?

John Szpara
Affordable Satellite
Fiero Owner 2-84 Indy Pace cars, 86 Coupe, 88 Formula 3.4, 88 Coupe, 88GT

If I read the same thing you read, this is a ploy to placate the business
traveler (read "airline"). As I understand it, the airliner will have some
kind of server which receives signals from the passenger's handheld and
relays them to and from ground stations. Far cry from telling everyone and
their brother that they can use their Nokia or whatever to call cells
directly.

Bob Gardner

"Reid & Julie Baldwin" wrote in message
...
The news lately has mentioned that the FCC is meeting to discuss relaxing
the ban on using cell phones in airplanes. Most of the news coverage
focuses
on the implications for airline passengers. They said that the FAA would
also
have to change rules before airline passengers could use cell phones.
The FCC is mainly concerned with interference with ground based use.
The FAA is mostly concerned about interference with aircraft electronics.
Does the FAA prohibit cell phone use in private aircraft, or is that just
an
FCC rule? If it becomes legal to use a cell phone from the air, I may have
to look into one of those headset adapters for cell phones.