cowspotter
join:2000-09-11
Ashburn, VA
| cell "towers" inside cabin
Its true that the signal does not work at cruising altitude. The plan is for the airlines to install mini cell tranceivers insid the cabin so passengers use their cell phone to communicate with the tranceiver which then relays the signal to the ground (whether its straight to a ground station or gets bounced off a satellite is anybodys guess). If you're thinking that this means you just get to use your regular minutes, don't be so sure. If the airline is installing the tranceiver, they basically become the carrier of the signal, and you can be sure that they'll want to charge a roaming fee for that. There's also news of a new cruise ship installing a cell towerish type device to do the same thing when you're in the middle of the ocean, and i don't think they're quite ready to give up the $5/min that they currently make off of phone calls. Now, the only question for airlines and the FCC is which technologies are going to be included. CDMA? TDMA? GSM? Analog??? |
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calvoiper
join:2003-03-31
Belvedere Tiburon, CA
| Correctomundo, cowspotter.
FWIW: The FCC rule mod to "allow" cell use on airplanes only covers this "internal to the plane" usage. Under the modified rule, straight use to a land based tower is still a no-no.
Calvoiper
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VoIP--the death knell of remaining voice monopolies! |
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