Cobra wrote:Vaughn Simon wrote:OldPilot wrote:Usage of cell phones in airplanes is illegal in the US. .
That's an often repeated bit of misinformation, but the only actual FCC prohibition that I can find applies only to the original 800 MHZ cell phone frequencies. Even if it were true, a hot spot is arguably not a cell phone.
Not misinformation, but rather Federal law.
From http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?...
§22.925 Prohibition on airborne operation of cellular telephones.Cellular telephones installed in or carried aboard airplanes, balloons or any other type of aircraft must not be operated while such aircraft are airborne (not touching the ground). When any aircraft leaves the ground, all cellular telephones on board that aircraft must be turned off. The following notice must be posted on or near each cellular telephone installed in any aircraft:
“The use of cellular telephones while this aircraft is airborne is prohibited by FCC rules, and the violation of this rule could result in suspension of service and/or a fine. The use of cellular telephones while this aircraft is on the ground is subject to FAA regulations.”
When that law was enacted, there was no such thing as a hot spot. Had there been, I'm sure the intent would have been to constrain its use as well, as the technical issue is the airborne device's signal hitting multiple towers on the ground and causing network confusion. I'm no lawyer, so I don't know how this would play out in court, but I suspect you'd have to go there to find out the answer.
Respectfully sir, the above is misinformation, unless you are talking about a very old cellphone. (The kind that had antennas sticking out the top.)
FCC regulations are even more arcane than the FAR's. Just like in the Bible, be very careful of taking words out of context. So if you look at the full contest of the above regulation (From Part 22), you will see that the frequencies of "Cellular Service" are defined as:
§22.905 Channels for cellular service.
The following frequency bands are allocated for assignment to service providers in the Cellular Radiotelephone Service.
(a) Channel Block A: 869-880 MHz paired with 824-835 MHz, and 890-891.5 MHz paired with 845-846.5 MHz.
(b) Channel Block B: 880-890 MHz paired with 835-845 MHz, and 891.5-894 MHz paired with 846.5-849 MHz.
[67 FR 77191, Dec. 17, 2002]
But that is NOT the frequency range that today's wireless phones operate on. Today's phones are digital and operate on higher frequencies, that are regulated by another part (I believe Part 27) of the FCC regulations. If you find any prohibition of airborne operation in the GSM frequency bands, I would like to hear about it.