THE European Union yesterday opened the way for air travelers to use mobile phones to talk, text or send e-mails on planes throughout Europe.
With the EU approval, airlines will now be able to offer onboard service for cell phones that use the European GSM technology later this year. The United States and many other countries still ban the use of cell phones and other mobile devices because of concern they could disrupt a plane's instruments.
Viviane Reding, the EU's telecommunications commissioner, warned phone operators not to set rates for the service too high and urged airlines to protect passengers from excessive phone use.
"In-flight mobile phone services can be a very interesting new service especially for those business travelers who need to be ready to communicate wherever they are," Reding said. "However, if consumers receive shock phone bills, the service will not take off." The European Commission said it would be keeping a close eye on pricing.
The EU also urged airlines to set in-flight etiquette and ensure a balance between those wanting to make calls and others wanting peace and quiet on their flight.
"Almost everybody will want to use this service. We hope that also some people will still use the aircraft as a moment of tranquility," EU spokesman Martin Selmayr said.
Several airlines, including Air France-KLM, have already launched a trial of in-flight mobile phone services on some European routes. British Midland Airways, Portugal's TAP, and low-cost airline Ryanair are also planning to offer services later this year.
Germany's Lufthansa, however, said it did not want to introduce the service because the majority of its customers saw no need for phone calls during flights. It will, however, look at providing Internet access.
The EU regulation sets a common standard by which passengers can safely use their mobile phones during flights and airlines will only need to get one national license to launch their services. Those licenses will apply across the entire 27-nation bloc.
The equipment airlines install will have to be approved by the European Aviation Safety Agency to ensure the onboard network will not conflict with in-flight systems.