AIRBUS has successfully completed the first in-flight trial of GSM personal mobile telephones, paving the way for their future widespread use. The trial, which took place aboard is part of an ongoing technical development project to provide an in-flight mobile telephony service to airline passengers. In addition to tests for measurement purposes, functional tests were performed in which several different GSM telephones were used simultaneously for both voice communications and text messaging. The trials demonstrated successful communications to and from personal mobile telephones onboard to mobile and fixed telephones on the ground, and to another mobile telephone aboard. The prototype equipment and software used in the trials were developed by Airbus supported by the telecommunication specialist Icarelink. Airbus plan to offer the product from 2006 but its acceptance by airline customers could be considered questionable although some airlines will undoubtedly offer a ”phone free area”, pre-booked at check-in.
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