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Upwardly Mobile
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Have you ever wondered why
are we required to switch off our mobile phones
when traveling in an airplane? The common
explanation, of course, is that mobile phones
interfere with the aircraft's navigation and
communication system.
The Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics
(RTCA), an independent aeronautic adviser,
apparently did not include mobile phones when
it last tested hand held devices for interference
in 1996. No other tests have been done after
that and there is not enough evidence to conclusively
prove the theory. |
The Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics
(RTCA), an independent aeronautic adviser, apparently
did not include mobile phones when it last tested
hand held devices for interference in 1996. No
other tests have been done after that and there
is not enough evidence to conclusively prove the
theory.
Moreover, mobile phones are banned in commercial flights, but not in private ones! In fact, in many flights, there are at least a few phones that are left inadvertently switched on, which start beeping as the aircraft starts landing! Thankfully, no aircraft has had any problems because of any such interference.
A more plausible explanation for not allowing them on flights could be the threat they pose to the terrestrial mobile networks. An aircraft with hundreds of active mobiles will surely cause havoc when signals emitted by them would try to occupy multiple cell towers on earth. Or, when the plane passes over a city with a dense cellular structure, all the phones trying to simultaneously switch from one cell to another would immediately freeze the network below.
Whatever be the reason, serious efforts are on to introduce in-flight cell phones. Airbus plans to put in in-flight mobile phone technology in aircrafts, notably A380s, by 2006, through its joint venture - OnAir. Ericsson announced that it would have an onboard base station available by approximately the same time.
Recently, at the Paris Air Show, Boeing exhibited an in-fight cellular system from Aeromobile on its 777 airliner. With almost 2 billion passengers flying annually these days, keeping them chatting represents huge potential revenue for both the airlines and the cellular operators.
The question, to my mind, is not whether this technology will be successful or not - it is more whether it should be allowed or not! Today the airplanes are, perhaps, the last silent bastions as far as cell phones are concerned.
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A
recent survey showed had 63 % of the respondents
voting for keeping the ban on use of cellphones
in planes. What do you think? Please e-mail
your responses to esbmarketing@sifycorp.com |
Rahul Swarup
President
Sify Enterprise Solution
We
welcome your comments and suggestions.
Please e-mail us at esbmarketing@sifycorp.com
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