Internal European flights will soon permit phone calls
Say farewell to the ringtone-free sanctuary of the airline cabin.
Hysterical toddlers and seat space invaders have a new rival for the title of ‘most disruptive airline passenger’ – the inconsiderate mobile phone user.
The European Commission has announced it will now enable the “deployment of 5G services” on aircraft, giving passengers on internal European flights full use of their mobile phones’ functionality.
Music and video streaming, texting and phone calls will all be possible mid-flight, thanks to a cellular base station called a ‘pico-cell’, which can be installed in an aircraft cabin and connect users to a 5G mobile network via satellite.
“The sky is no longer a limit when it comes to possibilities offered by super-fast, high-capacity connectivity,” Commissioner for the Internal market Thierry Breton said in a statement.
“5G will enable innovative services for people and growth opportunities for European companies.”
Member states have until mid 2023 to make 5G frequency bands available on aircraft as well as road use.
Currently European airlines such as Lufthansa and KLM allow passengers to use electronic devices if they are switched to aeroplane mode.
Since the announcement, no major airlines operating in Europe have publicly addressed the new laws, nor confirmed plans to allow passengers to use their mobile phones to make calls.
Safety concerns regarding interference of network frequencies to instruments called altimeters, which are used to measure a plane’s distance from the ground, have been raised in the US, due to the proximity of their 5G frequencies.
Frequencies used in Europe, however, operate at a wider margin than those in North America and at a lower power level, and have been deemed safe for use.
In February the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure released a statement declaring the country’s 5G network did not interfere with aviation instruments and debate over safety was “a local issue for the US”.
“In Australia, both 4G and 5G wireless broadband services have been operating in the 3.4-3.7 GHz band since 2016 and 2019 respectively, which is well below the frequencies used for radio altimeters,” the statement read.
“There haven’t been any recorded incidents of wireless broadband systems interfering with radio altimeters to date.”
Airlines operating in Australia currently require travellers to keep their electronic devices switched to aeroplane mode.
When contacted, a Virgin Australia representative would not comment on whether the airline would allow passengers to use their phones to make calls, but it is understood regulatory and technical requirements would need to first be assessed to understand if the option could be made available.
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