FCC Keeps Cell Phone Airplane Ban

By Digital Trends Staff Published October 25, 2009

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today gave airline passengers a reason to cheer as the governmental agency let stand a ban on cell phone usage during flight. The FCC had been pondering reversing the ruling since December 2004.

The FCC, in an issued statement, said comments filed related to their investigation had shown "insufficient technical information on whether the use of cellular phones onboard aircraft may cause harmful interference to terrestrial networks." The original ban had been put in place to keep cellular usage during flight from interfering with cellular networks on the ground.

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This ban may not permanent though as the FCC also stated it may "reconsider this issue at a later time if appropriate technical data is available." Airlines, manufacturers and wireless carriers are currently still researching how cellular phones and the like might work on planes without interfering with on-board or ground based equipment.

The FAA, meanwhile, also continues to restrict the use of cellular phones and select other devices on airplanes.

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