Global Business Technology

Connectivity has yet again despoiled once sacred ground, though this time it's in the air. Whether you're en route to London, Paris or Dubai, a fellow traveler's gritty life details, from stock picks to sex, will soon be audible—or as many view it, inescapable. With the number of flyers growing 6% annually and 3 billion cell-phone devices in operation, foreign airlines are racing to offer passengers the ability to call, text and e-mail with their mobiles and PDAs at about the same rates as for roaming international calls. In the U.S., voice won't be available anytime soon, but wi-fi will make e-mail and texting available next year.

How eager are passengers to stay connected? "Pressure will come from consumers saying 'I don't want people around me speaking, but I do want my data.' And they won't understand why they can't have it," says Patrick Brannelly, Emirates' vice president of passenger communications and visual services. "This is something the whole industry is looking at." The Dubai-based airline leads the charge with AeroMobile, based in Sussex, England, and a joint venture of ARINC (a transportation-communications company) and Telenor. The service is a natural fit for Emirates, which handles 6,000 calls a month from in-seat phones. The carrier expects to start full mobile service this winter on long-range B777s, eventually equipping its entire 110-plane fleet. Ten airlines—including Emirates, Ryanair, Qantas Airways and Air France—have announced deals with in-flight mobile-service providers.

So how does it work? Think of the plane as a flying country in which no one lives, so everyone is a roamer. Airlines use a technology based on picocell receivers (costing up to $150,000 per plane to retrofit) that reduce the amount of power mobile devices use to minimize potential interference with aircraft systems. Travelers are allowed to use their devices (you know the drill) once the airplane reaches cruising altitude. Calls are routed to cellular ground networks through Inmarsat satellites. A passenger's regular mobile provider will charge international roaming fees. Text and e-mail are unlimited, and by the end of the year, new Inmarsat satellite technology will allow for 14 simultaneous calls in flight—which, airlines say, is enough to handle 300 passengers.

The possible saving grace is that airlines have the option of turning off the voice mode, but don't expect any sympathy from the carriers about losing the last place on earth where the office and the kids can't reach you. "Our aircraft were never quiet places anyway," says Peter Sherrard, head of communications for Ireland's Ryanair, which expects to launch service on 92 routes in 50 or so B737 aircraft by mid-2008. "We spend most of the flight selling you food, drink, gifts, snacks and scratch cards. The reality is that more people will prefer text and e-mail."

Those who draw parallels between connectivity and smoking—in that each is intrusive secondhand—might be pleased to hear that some regulatory hurdles have yet to be jumped. An air-safety organization like the European Aviation Safety Authority (EASA) or U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), must certify that cell-phone signals do not interfere with aircraft systems. And the airlines or service providers must also secure regulatory approvals or licenses from telecoms, which are required in each country that the aircraft fly over. By early September, the EASA had approved systems for Boeing and Airbus planes, and one provider, Aeromobile, had secured telecom licenses in 37 countries.

As for the U.S., you won't be making cell-phone calls at 30,000 ft. (9,200 m) anytime soon. The regulatory agencies that rule cell phones and airlines are operating with their customary alacrity. The Federal Communications Commission halted its evaluation of the in-flight handset ban. The FAA has no plans to reconsider its restrictions on mobile devices. But a new technology will provide a workaround. By early next year in the U.S., American Airlines will inaugurate in-flight service for texting on wi-fi-enabled devices and for Internet browsing with an air-to-ground network of cell towers maintained by Colorado-based AirCell.

Industry executives are convinced that once chatty, gadget-loving Americans experience airline cell-phone use while traveling in Europe and the Middle East, they will demand nothing less at home. "This technology will not start in the U.S.," says Benoit Debains, CEO of Geneva's OnAir, "but it will happen there."