Originally Posted by howellajohnson
Rhetorically, what will your friend do when cellphone calls are permitted during the entire flight? It's coming sooner that we think or would like.
Turn on your cellphone at 35,000 feet and see what kind of a signal you get. Remember, cell towers are now 7+ miles below you, and their antenna radiate in a plane paralell to the ground, not really straight up. Also, if you've ever looked out the window, you'll notice that you don't really ever fly over areas that are too populated - mostly just empty space. Not exactly a hotbed of cellular activity. For this to work, the wireless companies would have to install picocells onboard the aircraft - at least 3 different ones too - GSM, TDMA, and CDMA. Not going to happen anytime soon.