[openfly]

Hi LP….I hope your favourite hotel is the Vineyard in Newlands…having my ashes scattered there!!
Enjoy the sun. I am.

[LuganoPirate]

No it’s not I’m afraid. I’m at the Mount Nelson, though I know the Vineyard well. If you’re in the area pop by and say hello. I’m usually under the tree at the top of the pool.

Off now to Bukhara at the Waterfront.

[MrDarwin]

Has anyone ever spoken to someone whilst they were on a plane? I am just wondering what the call quality would be like. Planes are quite noisy environments, and I’m not sure people would be able to hear the person very well unless they were shouting…

If an airline provides an appropriate area for phone calls, then I say why not. Think of Emirates with the bar up the back of the a380. It’s a social area with people chatting anyway, so making a phone call there would create no more noise that the bar already does.

For airlines like BA, whose planes do not have social or communal areas for passengers, I think the right decision is to ban phone calls altogether. This would in turn give airlines that have invested in such areas an additional competitive advantage for some customers.

[Charles-P]

Speaking as somebody who is on his mobile a lot I very much welcome the peace of a non connection on a flight. My staff know where I am, my family know where I am so they know when I will respond.

I have never used an inflight phone and the only time I did see one used was by a “closing a big deal” type who was clearly doing nothing of the sort !

[LuganoPirate]

Mr Darwin prompts to remind me that Mrs. LP once called me when she flew Washington – Milan. I think also to try it out, but i do remember it was very clear. No delay or crackle and despite the environment, very little background noise.

[MrMichael]

As I recall when MrsM called me from a B777 from 38000 feet over the Oz outback it was as clear as a bell, I do not notice any engine noise. Like me, MrsM does not feel the need to shout in to a phone as some do.

[BrotherJim]

Which airline was that MrMichael, as it would have to be either be through the aircrafts handset or an airline that has a GSM cell on board that allows calls. Not too many base stations in the outback of Australia.

PS phons will pick up base stations whilst in the air, however the antenna is designed to spread the radio energy horizontal to the earth, so at altitude the signal would be quite low. Aircraft also fly rather fast so wouldn’t take too long to exceed the 32km range (or 64km in parts of Australia) range of GSM, so plenty of base station jumping.

The only real way to have mobile connectivity in air is with a cell on board, which then uses the satellite to communicate with ground. Think a few airlines are starting to offer this. Emirates for example. But be warned the cell is a roaming cell and you pay satellite costs for any calls.

[LuganoPirate]

I wish I’d kept the “Welcome to” SMS’s now so I could report on the costs!

[MrMichael]

Hi Brother Jim, Sorry, bit of confusion here, the call was using the inbuilt Thai International phone, so guess it was a satellite phone.

[BrotherJim]

LuganoPirate in your case it would seem as if the SMS came from the ground, so the costs would be what ever that carrier was charging. It just wouldn’t have worked too well at 38,000 feet due to low signal and a fast moving aircraft.

If however you get on an Emirates a/c that has their own cell, then the service provider to the airline will set their own rates, which will be based on satellite costs because thats how the cell communicates with the ground.

MrMichael, yeah assumed it was an inbuilt phone or maybe Emirates, as I said not much coverage in most of Australia due to there being not much out there. I mean to say there are stations/farms that are 1/5th the size of the whole of England.

[openfly]

@LP I might just deign to visit the Nellie pool and introduce myself…..on my way to a the Vineyard!! Hehe Have fun! Another blue sky day with 25 degrees….so boring.

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