It's been a long-time fervent hope of EU citizens to be able to use a mobile handset while on their flight of choice and it seems that with EU regulators finally recently recommending that member states approve a plan to allow in-flight cellphone use, we'll soon be well on our way to rival American travellers in that area!
Although previous studies have shown cell radios may interfere with in-flight nav systems, the new plan involves mounting a satellite-linked "pico cell" in the passenger compartment, which will allow pilots and flight crew to selectively enable cell services like voice and SMS. The system only supports 2G connections, but if successful, can be at some point upgraded to 3G. Rollout is dependent on both individual countries and airlines approving the technology, but hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later.
What is even more exciting are the prospects this could potentially open up since in-flight mobile use is an entirely new market with both applications and research in this area severely lacking at the moment...
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