BRUSSELS, Belgium - Airline passengers in the European Union (EU) will soon be able to use their phones to full effect in the sky. The European Commission ruled airlines can provide 5G technology on board planes, alongside slower mobile data, BBC reports. Continue reading original article.
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
7 December 2022 - With the EU allowing people to use all of their phone's RF features mid-flight, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market says the plan will "enable innovative services for people" and help European companies grow. "The sky is no longer a limit when it comes to possibilities offered by super-fast, high-capacity connectivity," he said.
Dai Whittingham, chief executive of the UK Flight Safety Committee, told the BBC that airplane mode was historically important due to a lack of knowledge about how mobile devices affect aircraft.
"There was a concern they could interfere with automatic flight control systems," he said. "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 in airplane mode."
The FAA, FCC and carriers in the United States are currently addressing concerns that that 5G connectivity could affect avionics, but that concern is not shared in the EU as European frequencies are different and have lower power settings.
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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Military + Aerospace Electronics
