US agencies debate use of mobile phone calls during flights The US Transportation Department joined in the high-pitched debate over the use of mobile phones during flights just after the US Federal Communications Commission decided it would study the lifting of a 22-year-old ban. The developments reflect the divergent views among the US agencies over whether people should be allowed to talk on their phones from an aircraft, as technological advances make the practice safe. In an unexpected move, the Transportation Department said on Thursday it would seek public comment and review whether allowing phone calls during flights "is fair to consumers." "Over the past few weeks, we have heard of concerns raised by airlines, travellers, flight attendants, members of Congress and others who are all troubled over the idea of passengers talking on cell phones in flight," Transportation secretary Anthony Foxx said. I am concerned about this possibility as well. The intervention came hours before the FCC decided in a 3-2 vote to go ahead with a proposal that would expand mobile wireless services during flights, with chairman Thomas Wheeler calling the present rules "outdated." The FCC proposal would allow airlines to decide whether they wanted to install new equipment to allow the use of mobile devices, and it would be left to the airlines to decide what activities would then be allowed, including voice calls. The agency said the airlines would still have to make their decisions within the confines of the rules of the Transportation Department and the Federal Aviation Administration, however. Like the Transportation Department, the FCC will now seek public comment on its measure. "Let me say up front that, I get it," the FCC's Mr Wheeler said. I don't want the person in the seat next to me yapping at 35,000 feet any more than anyone else. But, he said, the FCC's job was to make decisions based on technology, and mobile access systems had been operating internationally with "great success for the last five years," As a result, FCC engineers no longer saw any technical reasons to ban the use of devices in the US. "If the basis for the rule is no longer valid, then the rule is no longer valid," Mr Wheeler said. It's that simple. The FAA made the first move in October on the issue of the use of mobile phones in flight, when it approved the use of mobile devices during a flight. But the FAA then said it would be left to the FCC to decide whether voice calls would be allowed. If an airline decided not to install the new equipment, then the FCC ban would be expanded to include all cellular frequencies. The equipment an airline would need to avoid the ban would manage a cellular signal before it has the potential to interfere with wireless networks on the ground. "Because new technology makes the old rule obsolete, the FCC should get government out from between airlines and their passengers," Mr Wheeler said. Where there is not a need for regulation, the free market works best to determine the appropriate outcome.