April 24, 2008- A new services for airline travelers may just make the trip more enjoyable and convenient than ever before. Shenzhen Airlines will now be offering mobile phone services on some of their flights before the Olympics in Beijing this August. Three airplanes will be chosen from their fleet or airlines to have GSM mobile communication equipment installed. Also, satellite communication and antennas will be installed in order to offer OnAir support for mobile devices during flight for in-flight calling. Forming in 2005, OnAir’s goal was to develop in-flight communications services for passengers. With OnAir, passengers will be able to use their mobile devices during flights, utilizing the same services and options via their handset as if they were on the ground. This service will no doubt attract more users to travel with Shenzhen Airlines than might have otherwise.

After these initial airplanes are fully equipped for the Beijing Olympics, all other Shezhen Airlines will be updated to support the same mobile services for their travelers. Previously, all in-flight was banned because of concern that the signals might interfere with the planes navigational systems, however the services provided on these airlines will have no effect on the navigation of the plane since the cell phone signals will not be connecting to ground networks. In order to use mobile phones on these flights, users will be connecting to a mini base-station that is actually on board the airplane. The in-flight services will allow up to 12 calls at once per picocell as well as unlimited text messaging and emails for users.

Source: zdnetasia.com