UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has given approval to plans for allowing cellphone use on UK-registered aircraft.  The decision comes less than a week after Emirates and Quantas both revealed plans to outfit a number of aircraft from each of their fleets with pico-cell transceivers that would allow passengers to use their mobiles without interfering with the planes’ systems.  According to the guidelines, planes would have to be above 3,000m before such equipment could be turned on, and the approval is so far limited to 2G, not 3G, making data use unlikely.  Since the airline would, in effect, be operating a roaming network (with signals from the pico-cell transferred to the domestic network via satellite link) they would be free to set their own charges; however, Ofcom has promised to investigate and address any “excessive charges and abuses of competition”. 

Before airlines can begin fitting the systems, however, the European Aviation Safety Agency must rule on the plans, with responsibility for ensuring the pico-cell base stations would not interfere with any other flight systems.  Airlines would also need to develop operating procedures and suitable training for staff; apparently the Civil Aviation Authority in the UK has yet to be approached by an interested operator.