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FCC Says Inflight Calls a Go, But DoT Says No

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People seem to forget...

TDBearCT

Dec 12, 2013, 5:28 PM
... that once upon a time, you could make phone calls on a plane. The service was Airfone, a division of Verizon (at the time). It was prohibitively expensive (up to $5/min) but I remember using it at least once when I was travelling (to relay changes in my itinerary to my family).

I think that the technical decision should be separated from the etiquette decision. Both the FCC and DoT are technical bodies, and should define their roles as such. If there are no technical reasons to ban cell phone use, they should allow it.

The airlines can, on their own, decide to allow or not allow cell phone conversations in-flight. It is their right, as much as it is the right of theater operators to insist that cell phones be silenced during a perf...
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rwalford79

Dec 12, 2013, 5:50 PM
Yes people seem to forget this. Its not been listed in a single of the many reports I read on this topic.

AirPhone in fact also had a $10 add-on plan via Verizon that allowed you to make and receive calls at your seat back phone onboard any flight and used your Verizon minutes.

I think texting and emailing and instant messaging should be encouraged over voice calls, however they should not be banned at all as they have been and are still allowed everywhere except North America on planes.
Aside from this, if they wanna nitpick about calls being made on planes, how about all them calls that 9/11 passengers made. No one complained then.
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Versed

Dec 12, 2013, 9:51 PM
Thats because all flights right now are being flown into a friggin building, makes sense to me.

The best thing to do is charge $10 a min, with a 40% federal tax and bill in 5 minute intervals. So if you really need to make tha call, $70 would not be a problem for those who so wish.
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amarryat

Dec 13, 2013, 8:50 AM
Versed said:
with a 40% federal tax and bill in 5 minute intervals. So if you really need to make tha call, $70 would not be a problem for those who so wish.


No thanks. If you'd like to pay the tax, why don't you write the check yourself.
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Versed

Dec 14, 2013, 10:18 PM
Then remove the federal tax on all mobile devices. I think this is fair, if the call REALLY needs to be made, then pay it. Make it so it can be done, and expensive enough so its just used if it really needed.

I can see it now, if this goes through, some clown will ask people to be quiet because they're make an important call thats more important then what others are doing. Heck, I'd just turn my music player louder on purpose.
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amarryat

Dec 13, 2013, 8:53 AM
Yup, and I don't remember an outcry when they installed those seatback phones. Cell phones do not and have not ever interfered with any of the avionics on a plane. This ban was always about something else. I too would find it annoying listening to half a conversation for an entire flight which would be sure to happen if everyone were using their cell phone, but on the other hand, this doesn't happen on buses and trains.
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