Air passengers will soon no longer have to put their phones on airplane mode in the EU:
It looks like airplane mode will become a thing of the past in the European Union (EU) starting next year, following the European Commission's decision to allow airline passengers to use data and even perhaps make calls while in the air. The ruling will allow airlines to provide 5G technology rather than offering historically slow free wifi or requiring passengers to pay for data access.
Under the new rules, airline passengers will be able to stream music and videos, access their apps, and make phone calls on planes equipped with 5G. The plan will "enable innovative services for people" and help European companies grow, Thierry Breton, the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market, said in a statement.
[...] Airlines will use special network equipment called 'pico-cell' to route calls, texts, and data through a satellite network that connects the airplane to the ground-based mobile network.
[...] "There was a concern they could interfere with automatic flight control systems," Whittingham told the outlet. "What has been found with experience is the risk of interference is very small. The recommendation has always been that once you are in flight, devices should be in airplane mode."
The concern for 5G interference has remained a concern in the U.S., but Whittingham said the same concerns don't apply in the UK and the EU.
[...] Under the new ruling, EU state members will need to make 5G technology accessible on airlines by June 30, 2023.
(Score: 3, Informative) by coolgopher on Thursday December 08, @03:19AM (4 children)
Oh great. Now the aircraft will be full of loud-talking people yelling over each other to make themselves heard. This does not feel like progress, I have to say.
(Score: 2) by arslan on Thursday December 08, @09:10AM (3 children)
You clearly have not been on planes with kids. This is a net positive - I'm sure many parents will be glad to give their kids, from toddlers to emo teens, their addiction and keep them stfu-ed.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by canopic jug on Thursday December 08, @09:22AM (2 children)
That's not what they are really doing to them by handing them their addiction [cbsnews.com]. It's a disappointment that the CBS story gets so little coverage, but then again there is not only very little free press left in the world and of those working in journalism many are, like most adults, also addicted to their Skinner boxes. Denial is a factor, as with all addictions, but there is also the scariness of who controls the Skinner boxes and what they are doing to the generations with them. It may shut the little bastards up at the moment, but the bill to pay later will be exceptional and perhaps final.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Friday December 09, @12:26AM (1 child)
Same was said about TV. About radio before that. About newspapers before that.
Yes, if you're a lazy parent, your kids are gonna be brought up by a device, gossip and rumour, same as ever.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Friday December 09, @03:11AM
You didn't check the CBS link [cbsnews.com] nor see the whole "60-Minutes" segment it references. Perhaps that was out of denial [psychologytoday.com]?
ByteDance's TikTok, and other social control media are not in the same category as the activities you list. Social control media "apps" are effectively adaptive Skinner boxes programming the fool engaging with the "app" and homing in on individual quirks and weaknesses. The parents are not the ones setting the parameters for the Skinner box. If it were, then a case could be made to allow the "apps". However, hostile interests control the "apps" and thus the victims. In the case of ByteDance, it is operated a hostile state power which is programming the target audience for destructive behaviors, attitudes, and disinformation oriented towards the destruction of physical and mental health. C'mon. It even says it on the label: ByteDance is a surveillance and propaganda company. What do you think their main product is going to be?
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by Rosco P. Coltrane on Thursday December 08, @04:20AM (8 children)
I've never put my cellphone in airplane mode ever since the 90s. I just pretend to turn it off when the hostess goes by. And I've never turned off my BT headset either since I started flying with one.
Why you ask?
Because I've always been suspicious of the plane interference thing. I've heard cellphones through my ham radio rig, so I know it's definitely a thing. But the instruments going banana because of a small 1W microwave transmitter way in the back? I don't think so...
I left it on to see if the captain would go on the PA and say "Alright, whoever didn't turn their cellphone off, please do so now!". It's never happened. Ever.
(Score: 2) by MIRV888 on Thursday December 08, @04:58AM (2 children)
That's a pretty bold statement for a metal tube at 36,000 feet.
I guess it's learn by doing.
There's a very small likelihood that transmissions from cell phones with interfere with aircraft operations, but the consequence if they do is, well, bad.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by khallow on Thursday December 08, @05:28AM
It would have been bad decades ago. Funny how we never hear details of the cell phone incidents that sparked this silliness.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 08, @10:12AM
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DTlplBlX0AcO3yh.jpg [twimg.com]
(Score: 2) by Frosty Piss on Thursday December 08, @06:56AM
And this is a good point. The fact is, people have been leaving their phones on for YEARS, I do. And often I'll take a look just to see if I can find a signal.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 08, @07:20AM (1 child)
And it uses less power in airplane mode. So if you're somewhere where you don't have cell phone access - remote area or in a country where you didn't bother having roaming, it's better to have your phone not bother trying to look for cell towers and have the "phone radio" stuff off.
So far with all my phones I can manually turn on wifi and/or bluetooth after turning airplane mode on - e.g. GSM/4G/etc stuff stays off but wifi is usable.
(Score: 2) by bart9h on Thursday December 08, @06:06PM
This.
I also always put my phone in airplane mode when it's approaching the sleepy time.
Or when I'm driving. I don't want to be distracted or interrupted by incoming calls or messages.
Or when I'm trekking, or camping, or when I go to the beach, etc.
(Score: 2) by canopic jug on Thursday December 08, @09:26AM
It might be like in the trains where most of the signal bounces back off the enclosing carriage goes around until absorbed by the passengers. With a break in connection with the ground tower the phones in the plane will turn up their broadcasts to maximum signal strength to try to reach something. Most of that signal will stay inside the plane. Then whatever signal does get outside of the plane and reaches the ground is going to be contacting several towers simultaneously, thus degrading service for those on the ground. That's all just a guess.
Money is not free speech. Elections should not be auctions.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Friday December 09, @12:30AM
If they interfered with flight operations in any significant manner, they'd be removed from your possession at the check-in desk, tested for in security, and you wouldn't get it back until your destination.
(Score: 2) by PiMuNu on Thursday December 08, @10:04AM (2 children)
It's nice to have a legal requirement for phones to be able to switch off all outgoing transmissions. More portable than a faraday cage.
(Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Thursday December 08, @12:14PM (1 child)
I agree. My main problem is that I am sitting within the cage (albeit not a faraday one). I assume that radiation levels become quite high within planes with everybody using every conceivable transmission method, on top of being closely packed. Would be nice to have some real data, though.
(Score: 2) by ledow on Friday December 09, @12:28AM
No worse than walking through a subway.
And in fact, yet to be proven to be harmful in terms of emissions in any measurable way.
(Score: 2) by Barenflimski on Thursday December 08, @05:43PM (1 child)
I haven't been asked to turn my phone to Airplane mode in the United States, for at least 6 months.
It may even be a little longer, I just don't fly as much as the standard business unit.
The only thing they ask, is that you put away your large electronics. I assume that is so your "large" device doesn't become a projectile in case of a large bump, thump, rivet or roller.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 09, @10:04PM
That might be part of it, but the real reason for basically all of the stowing procedures on an aircraft, including this one, is to help ensure that there few obstacles that interfere in the case of an evacuation.