Ofcom Website | Mobile Services on Aircraft

Ofcom Website | Mobile Services on Aircraft:

Ofcom has produced a paper on the Regulatory issues raised by allowing GSM in planes (utilising an in-plane microcell).

Some of the potential issues are: -

* the territorial jurisdiction of Ofcom and other National Regulatory Agencies over airborne systems;
* the legal status of the proposed Network Control Unit under the R&TTE Directive;
* the status of airborne services under the Authorisation Directive;
* the protection of other services from interference
* the regulation of the backhaul from aircraft to ground;
* the arrangements for managing the systems in the air;
* access to numbering resources;
* the range of technologies covered by the current European work."

There are potentially several licensing issues (like options of authorising such systems and who should authorise them).

Currently utilising the 1800MHz band is favoured.

Ofcom is loking for comments from stakeholders.