Americans will soon have a chance to comment on the Federal Communications Commission's proposal to allow in-flight cellphone use on commercial airliners. The agency is holding an open meeting Thursday at 2:30 p.m. ET to discuss rules that would allow voice calls while jetliners are in the air -- something that's been forbidden on U.S. flights.
You can watch the session live online -- and we'll update this post with highlights.
The meeting is an initial step toward approving phone use during flights, a process that would most likely take more than a year. The FCC's five commissioners will vote on the proposal today; if it's approved, it would then be
If the proposed rules gain final approval, airlines would then decide if they want to allow passengers to use phones during flights. (Some have already said they won't offer the service.)
Airlines that want to allow phone use would need to license bandwidth for equipment called a pico cell, essentially a base station that handles wireless data and calls. Then they would need safety approval from the Federal Aviation Administration as well.
Reaction to the FCC's plan has been mixed, at best.
A recent AP poll found that only 19 percent of Americans support the idea of talking on phones during flights. A large group was neutral, and 48 percent were against it. But the opposition was greater among people who have flown in the past year, with 59 percent saying calls shouldn't be allowed.
Our post on the story last month generated this top-rated comment:
"Zombies in their cars, zombies on the street, now zombies in the air. There is no escape," wrote a reader named harry guss.
And in response to another comment's hypothetical phone call from an airline passenger named "Alice," a reader named Lencho wrote, "This is when I reach over and yank the cell phone out Alice's hand and run to the rest room and flush the dang thing down the toilet."
In an editorial for USA Today that was timed to coincide with today's session, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler sought to ease consumers' concerns. He noted that the proposed change is still in the early stages.
And he said he doesn't want to sit next to anyone who's on the phone during a flight, either.
"I certainly empathize with those who don't want to be stuck listening to loud phone conversations in-flight," Wheeler wrote. "Because the airline can block or otherwise control voice calls, there is a technical solution to this concern."
That echoes a recent post on the FCC's blog by Julius Knapp, head of the Office of Engineering, and Roger Sherman, acting chief of the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau.
The pair stressed that even if the proposal is approved, there are several levels of cellphone acceptance between a relatively silent cabin and endless chatter from passengers telling their families about their trip or checking in with the office.
Those incremental levels are reflected in the policies of European carriers that already allow passengers to use mobile phones during flights.
Some have instituted data-only restrictions. Others, such as Virgin Atlantic, place limits on voice calls and charge a steep premium -- more than a dollar a minute -- for using the service.
As we noted in November, Wheeler is a former cellphone industry lobbyist whose move to allow more use of phones in plane cabins was welcomed by the Telecommunications Industry Association.
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