Actually it could work very well, and I have seen this proposal from
several different sources. The Idea is to install a low power cell
phone tower into the airliner.

As I understand it that signal bar you see on you Cell phone is
dictates how much power the cell phone uses to transmit. So the closer
you are to the tower the less power it uses to transmit. This is why
you phone batteries probably last longer in town than the do out in
the boondocks.

By installing the tower in the aircraft you are only a few hundred
feet from the tower (at the most). The Cell phones will get an
excellent signal from it and will drop to the lowest transmit power
setting, Thus the interference with towers on the ground should be
minimal.

I am not an expert on these, I am just repeating how it was explained
to me.

Brian

"Morgans" wrote in message ...
"Bob Chilcoat" wrote in message
...
I noticed on the evening news the other night that someone is trying to
get
a modular mobile "cell tower" approved that would be installed in
commercial
aircraft so that passengers can use their own mobile phones. It will be
interesting to see how the FCC and FAA handle this one.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


Still won't work. The frequency the cell in the air is on, will be hitting
dozens of towers on the ground, making them unable to use that frequency for
other users on the land.