July 20, 2005
OnAir plans 'quiet times' of no voice calls in aircraft
Following surveys - showing that airline passengers are nervous about the nuisance value of inflight phone calls by their neighbours - OnAir has revealed that its in-plane technology will be able to limit passengers to text-only for "quiet times" during flight, reports The Register.
"The revelation came in the announcement of a deal with Siemens to provide the essential "picocell" GSM transceivers for inflight telephony which OnAir is now offering not just to its own (Airbus is a partner in OnAir) aircraft builder, but also to Boeing.
... The new voice features will be "voluntary" in the sense that the existing equipment will be upgraded to carry GSM phone calls - but only when aircrew permit. "The aircraft crew will have access to a dedicated control panel for switching the system into the selected service mode (e.g. text-only) and monitoring the system status. This will ensure that 'quiet' times are respected in the cabin," said the announcement."
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