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Qantas To Allow BlackBerries In Flight |
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Written by Adam Gosling
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Monday, 28 August 2006 |
Airlines are beginning to come around to the admission that
mobile cellular phones are not a danger to aircraft navigation systems as they
have been telling us for years and Qantas is the latest to say it will allow
phone use mid-flight.
It's only a trial for the moment, but the Airline is likely
to permit the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices such as
blackberries after the three month evaluation period on a Boeing 767 aircraft
operating on Australian domestic routes.
"Qantas will be one of the first airlines in the world
to offer this service," said Lesley Grant, Qantas Group General Manager of
Customer Product and Services.
"We have asked our business travellers about the
concept, the overwhelming majority felt the service was a good idea,
particularly email access. Most feel it will allow them to use their time more
effectively in-flight, as a flight for many has become an integral part of
their business day," she said.
There's a profit motive of course. The plane will be classed
as a ‘country' and international roaming (including global roaming rates) will
be required to use your phone mid-flight.
The evaluation is a "first step towards building a product,"
said Grant.
Qantas is working with Telstra, Panasonic Avionics
Corporation and AeroMobile to develop the service which will permit users to
make or receive a call or use SMS with a GSM phone. GPRS services will make mile-high
email a reality also.
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