Monday, October 23, 2006
Some airlines eye cell phones,
Wi-Fi as revenue stream
By Chris Cobbs
The Orlando (FL)
Sentinel
During a recent trip to Panama, Orlando lawyer Robert
Terenzio encountered airline passengers breaking the rules and being rude by
talking loudly on their cell phones during the flight.
"There was a
knucklehead on the trip down and another coming back who I had to ask to turn
off their phones," said Terenzio, a frequent flier. "They both looked at me like
I had three eyes or something, but they got off their phones."
As soon as
next year, however, it might be OK for passengers to make calls from their
mobile phones while airborne -- though they could have to pay as much as $10 a
flight for the privilege.
A European carrier, Ryanair, is expected to
introduce cell-phone service on its planes next year. And U.S. airlines will
probably follow suit, industry analysts and others say, though the airlines
themselves aren't saying much on the subject.
Powering the change is new
technology designed to keep cell-phone signals from interfering with a plane's
guidance system and ground networks, experts say -- and airlines' desire to tap
a new source of revenue.
Three industry analysts and U.S. Rep. John Mica,
R-Winter Park, the chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees aviation
security, said last week that the service is definitely coming to U.S.
skies.
Most agreed it could debut next year and become commonplace by
2008.
"I absolutely expect it to happen next year," said Henry
Harteveldt, vice president and principal analyst of travel research for
Forrester Research Inc.
New technology
U.S. airlines could dip
their toes into the cellular waters cautiously, not wanting to offend passengers
who might flee to other carriers to avoid listening to other passengers'
conversations, said Jeff Kagan, a telecom-industry analyst.
It's already
technically possible to make a call from an airliner under certain conditions
using your own cell phone. But there are several hurdles: Airlines ban use of
electronic devices below 10,000 feet; it's difficult to get a signal on a cell
phone above 20,000 feet; and cellular coverage can be spotty or nonexistent over
water or lightly populated areas.
The solution, experts say, appears to
be a new technology -- pico cells -- that handles calls made by plane passengers
from their mobile phones. The equipment, installed on each jetliner, picks up,
or captures, the signal from a cell phone, preventing it from interfering with
the plane's guidance system while funneling it to the proper connecting point on
the ground.
"Ryanair's implementation next year in Europe will expedite
the timetable here in the U.S.," Mica predicted. Congressional hearings in July
2005 helped allay fears of safety and security issues, he said.
The sheer
popularity of cellular phones in this country adds to the likelihood of cellular
conversations finding their way into the air, said Diana Hwang, an analyst for
IDC Research Inc.
"But the adoption may not quite as rapid as in Europe,"
she said.
Airlines haven't openly discussed fees for making calls, but
European carriers are expected to charge $2.50 to $3 a minute, and some experts
think a flat fee of $10 per flight for phone calls, e-mail and wireless Web
access might be workable in the U.S.
A bigger issue is how people will
react to having other passengers yakking endlessly on their phones, experts
say.
"In tight quarters on a long flight, you don't want to be next to a
chatterbox sharing Grandma's chocolate-chip-cookie recipe," Harteveldt
said.
Frequent travelers, including business people, want to maintain
productivity and connectivity -- but without distractions, said Bill Connors,
executive director of the National Business Travelers Association.
"There
are plenty of times I'd like to do e-mail on a BlackBerry on a four-hour flight,
but I wouldn't necessarily want to get on the phone," Connors said.
The
ability to make calls, read e-mail and surf the Web wirelessly while flying
across the country appeals strongly to Vlad Mazek, president of OwnWebNow.com,
an Orlando company that helps small businesses use Microsoft
products.
Mazek, 28, makes several trips a month to Dallas and Seattle
and would gladly pay $10 a flight for wireless communciations, both voice and
data.
"During the hours of 9 to 5, we need to be able to communicate with
our customers from wherever," he said. "The worst thing you can do to a client
is leave him hanging. It's a matter of presence and being available."
But
before cell-phone calls are allowed on planes, lingering concerns about safety
and security have to be addressed, some experts say.
A study this year by
the Carnegie Mellon University Department of Engineering and Public Policy, for
example, concluded that cell phones and airplanes still don't mix.
"Cell
phones and other portable devices, like laptops and game-playing devices, can
pose dangers to the normal operation of critical electronics on airplanes," the
study said.
Safety still an issue
Even the pico-cell technology
may not ensure safety, said Carnegie Mellon researcher Jay Apt, a former U.S.
astronaut.
The biggest danger posed by cell phones during flight is when
a plane is on its final approach to an airport, Apt said.
"On a dark and
stormy night at low altitude, when you are trying to get the aircraft on the
ground, cell phones could interfere with the navigational system," he
said.
Despite such reservations, Mica said he's comfortable cell phones
can be operated safely in the air. "The technical people we consulted at our
hearings said cell phones don't pose a safety or communications hazard," he
said.
Airlines contacted for this article were reluctant to discuss the
use of cell phones during flight.
A United spokesman said the airline has
no plans to offer in-flight cell service. "Our customers have told us they
prefer a more discreet form of communication, like Wi-Fi, and that is what we
are focusing on," the spokesman said.
At JetBlue, customer feedback has
been similarly opposed to cell-phone use during flight, a spokesman said. "I
think we are in line with other airlines," he said.
Other airlines didn't
respond to e-mail and phone messages seeking comment.
They may be
reluctant to talk, said Harteveldt, the Forrester analyst, because they haven't
exactly figured out the business model yet. But "they're all looking for
ancillary revenue," he added.
| SERVICE | $5 | $10 | $30 |
| Movies on demand, with individual seat-back monitor | 55% | 6% | 1% |
| Live TV shows, with individual seat-back monitor | 42% | 3% | 1% |
| Use of own cell phone during flight for conversations | 20% | 2% | 1% |
| Broadband Internet access, including VPN access* | 16% | 5% | 1% |
| Play video games alone | 18% | 2% | 1% |
| Play video games with other passengers | 12% | 1% | 1% |
| Use cell phone during flight for text messages, photos, etc. | 9% | 1% | 1% |
