Quote:
Originally Posted by VillageReader
Actually, the chance of a cell phone at 900MHz or 1.8 or 1.9Ghz interfering with the radio communication of an airplane with proper shielding is as near zero as it gets. Shielding of both phones and aircraft can degrade over time, but there is little evidence to suggest that even this can cause real (compared to theoretical) interferance.
(And how many of you actually turn off your computer's wireless connection when you fly?).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_on_aircraft |
While this is generally true there is also a problem with cell phones tying up cell towers. On the ground a phone can only contact a few towers but from the air it can really tie up a great many towers and a few phones could conceivably overload the network. This is why it is a FCC regulation not to use a cell phone, not just an airline one. The airline is only interested in turn off devices in take off and landings and are not concerned during the flight for the most part.
Dale