The New Skynet: Mobiles
over Europe
Flying point-to-point inside
Europe is going to get a lot more
annoying for many passengers.
The European Commission
has approved the use of mobile
phones in planes equipped with
onboard picocell networks
bridged to satellite links. Mobile
calls will be allowed on planes flying in European airspace, with the
rates determined by the airlines
and their carrier partners, once the
aircraft has reached at altitude of
3,000 meters ( 9,800 feet).
Air travel is unpleasant
enough as it is, without hearing
someone in the seat next to you
(or behind you, or in front of
you) shouting into a cell phone as
soon as the plane reaches cruising
altitude. Well, that doesn’t seem
to matter.
Just over a year ago, the
U.S. Federal Communications
Commission rejected cell phone
usage on aircrafts in the United
States. As the FCC wrote in their
order FCC 07-47, regarding the
use of 800MHz cell phones on
planes, “The Commission also
noted that the Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) prohibits
the use of portable electronic
devices (PEDs) on airborne aircraft. Given the lack of technical
information in the record upon
which we may base a decision,
we have determined at this time
that this proceeding should be
terminated.” In other words, no
To meet Microsoft’s June 30
last-day-to-ship OEM Windows
XP deadline, June 18 is the last
day to purchase a Dell laptop,
desktop, or workstation with an
OEM Windows XP license. It’s
rather confusing, so read what
Dell says carefully:
“After June 18th you have
the option to purchase Windows
Vista Business or Windows Vista
Ultimate with a downgrade service
to Windows XP Professional. When
you are configuring your system
online or through the help of one of
our sales experts, you will have the
opportunity to select which operating system you would like on your
PC. When selecting your operating
system, you will see an option called
“Genuine Windows® Vista Business
BONUS” and “Genuine Windows®
Vista Ultimate BONUS.” With
these options, you may purchase
the licensed rights to Windows
Vista but have Dell factory install
Windows XP Professional. You will
also receive a backup media disc for
Windows XP Professional as well
as the media for Windows Vista so
you can upgrade when you’re ready.
Furthermore, with these options Dell
will provide technical support for
the factory-installed Windows XP
Professional image and your
licensed version of
Windows Vista.”
Now, that’s
really listening
to the customer.
Good job, Dell!
alan Zeichick covers the tech industry as a long-time journalist and analyst. He is based in the san Francisco Bay
area and can be reached at zeichick@acm.org.
Sadly, the European Commission went the other way.
According to Ofcom, the Office
of Communications in the U.K.,
“Technology companies have
developed systems that can be used
in planes without interfering with
the aircraft’s navigation systems or
with the mobile phone networks
on the ground. New equipment
has to be installed on each aircraft
to make this work safely. Ofcom
and other European regulators
have been working to establish the
technical rules which will ensure
there is no harmful interference.”
Government organizations
seem to be most worried about
pricing—not the annoyance factor. So, how much will it cost?
Nobody knows, says the U.K.
office: “Ofcom cannot predict
how much calls will cost and it
is up to the service providers to
set the call charges. However we
expect that the prices for these
services may be higher than those
charged for regular mobile phone
calls because of the various connection arrangements between
companies to allow ca ~lls to be made and received.”
DOI: 10.1145/1377016.1377018
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