Cell phones on a plane may not fly

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Cell phone use on an airplane may not be approved by the Federal Communications Commission because it still poses some aircraft communication complications, a published report said Thursday.

USA Today reported FCC Chairman Kevin Martin is recommending the agency drop its tentative plan to lift its ban on in-flight wireless calls, according to three agency officials who asked to remain anonymous.

The officials said most of the agency's five commissioners support the recommendation, the paper reported.

The ban of cell phone use on a plane was imposed by the FCC because the agency worried that wireless calls at 35,000 feet would interfere with on-ground towers, USA Today said.

A small airplane antenna, known as a pico cell, was supposed to offer a solution to the interference. Passengers's cell phone signals sent to the pico cell would relay calls to earthbound towers over a spectrum for air-to-ground use, according to the paper.

But the wireless association CTIA conducted tests and found that, even with the small airplane antenna, in-flight calls still caused problems, especially when the pico cell did not recognize the passenger's cell phone signal, the paper said.

However, the paper said AirCell - the privately held provider of broadband services for airlines that won the pico cell spectrum rights at an FCC auction last year - believes the interference glitches can be resolved.

AirCell told USA Today its main hurdle was gaining support from both consumers and wireless industry participants.

Aside from cell phones interfering with signals, consumers are also concerned about disruptive air-travel neighbors on their mobile devices, the paper said.

AirCell CEO Jack Blumenstein said in-flight cell phone use still has a chance in the U.S. if a European service, set to begin this year, is successful, USA Today reported.

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