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Air France testing mobile phone calls on international flights; Frequent fliers rejoice!

Categories: General
By: , IntoMobile
Friday, December 21st, 2007 at 5:40 AM

Well folks, it seems that the day when we’ll be able to regularly use our mobile phones while flying in the plane is approaching, with Air France being the first company to test the new OnAir’s onboard mobile telephony system. Apparently, OnAir got the certification from the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) that their system doesn’t interfere with the radio-navigation instruments on the Airbus A318 (what about other airplanes?).

Air France

The system is activated at 3,000 metres (10,000 feet) when passengers see the newly setup “Switch off your phone” sign turned off.

At the moment, OnAir has roaming agreements with multiple mobile network operators, including the three major operators in France: Orange, Bouygues Telecom and SFR. The airline company is currently testing the new system on its international flights and the service is presently limited to data and messaging services. After the end of of the six-month trial, Air France will examine the feedback and potentially enable voice calls as well…

In the other news, Air France’s ground staff is striking at Paris’ Orly airport…

[Via: Cellular News]

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About The Author

Dusan Belic

Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.

  • Kevin

    OMG. It won’t be long before in-flight fights break out. Who wants to sit next to anyone yapping their face off for hours?

  • mariokarter

    I would love to be the one jackass talking on his phone via voip with everyone else looking at me with “hope is he doing that” looks.