Skift Take
Is the passenger in the middle seat on your flight going to be talking endlessly on his or her Samsung Galaxy given international roaming rates of $1 to $2 per minute? Doubtful. Foreign airlines' flights that allow voice calls average just five or six calls per flight, with an average duration of a couple of minutes per call. Are opponents making too much noise about the issue? Could be.
As the FCC considers a proposal this week to rewrite what it characterizes as its "outdated rules" on in-flight systems that would support voice calls, data and texting from mobile phones, the ironies are many.
Consider that:
U.S. passengers already use their mobile phones to make in-flight voice calls, access data and send texts; they just do so outside of U.S. airspace, and on a bevy of foreign airlines, ranging from British Airways and SAS to Emirates and Etihad.
The FAA already certifies onboard GSM systems from providers such as UK-based AeroMobile on certain U.S.-manufactured Boeing aircraft, albeit for foreign carriers.
AeroMobile has roaming agreements for customers of AT&T and T-Mobile, and competitor OnAir has a roaming pact with AT&T, all useful for U.S. travelers making in-flight voice calls or using data services outside U.S. airspace only.
In the unlikely event that the FCC doesn't decide to proceed with a notice of proposed rulemaking and maintains the status quo, then foreign airlines would continue to
