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Ofcom: executive summary of consultation document for inflight mobile phone support

This is the executive summary of the consultation document announced today by Ofcom. There's a link at the bottom to the full print version.

There is increasing interest in the potential for offering communications services to passengers using mobile phones on aircraft – Mobile Communications on Aircraft or MCA. However, a number of issues must be dealt with before such services can be provided, some of which are the responsibility of the communications regulator, Ofcom and some are the responsibility of other regulators.

Aircraft safety is of primary importance, and no services could be contemplated unless safety was assured. The European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA) in the UK are responsible for aircraft safety and for the human dimension of passenger safety and welfare. The proposed services would have to satisfy both EASA and CAA requirements before they could be introduced. Ofcom is responsible for the regulation of spectrum and Electronic Communications Services (ECS) and only has a role to play in these fields in relation to MCA services.

Ofcom is aware of concern from some consumers about passenger welfare and safety around the introduction of MCA in the UK. However, it is a matter for the CAA and other regulatory bodies to consider these issues separately. No services can be introduced until the requirements of those bodies have been satisfied. Ofcom’s proposals set out in this consultation aim to create the legal and technical conditions in which the services could be launched, but this will only happen if they are approved by the relevant authorities in charge of safety and welfare issues and if airlines take the commercial decision, in the light of passenger demand, to do so.

By their nature, these services are international. Ofcom has therefore always taken the view, supported by the majority of UK stakeholders, that MCA must be considered on a multilateral basis, using standards and procedures agreed across the EU and internationally. Ofcom has been working with other Member States of the EU to create such a mutual regime. We expect this to be enshrined in a binding Decision of the Radio Spectrum Committee ( RSC ) and an advisory Recommendation of the Communications Committee (COCOM) – by the end of 2007 or early 2008.

Ofcom published a Discussion Document on this subject on 10 April 2006 and received a range of helpful comments from stakeholders. In light of these responses, and the RSC Decision and COCOM Recommendation which is likely to be adopted soon, Ofcom believes that it is timely to consult on how the authorisation and technical management regime for MCA could operate in the UK. As these subjects were previously discussed in the Ofcom Discussion Document, and progress in international forums is proceeding apace, Ofcom believes that the consultation period should be limited to six weeks.

The current proposals cover GSM in the 1800 MHz band only. The great majority of handsets in Europe and elsewhere are compatible with this standard. If the service is successful it might then be possible to consider its extension to further standards, such as 3G, in due course.

This paper sets out Ofcom’s proposals for the technical and authorisation approach to be adopted. From a spectrum management perspective the key objective is that MCA systems should not generate any harmful interference to terrestrial networks. A European standard sets technical parameters which should reduce the risk of harmful interference being generated outside the aircraft. This paper summarises the requirements of that standard and consults on its suitability to protect terrestrial networks. This paper also consults on the proposed common approach to authorisations where each EU Member State will recognise the authorisations of others, so that aircraft registered in any Member State will be able to operate MCA systems in other Member States airspace.

The EU developments could also facilitate the emergence of a global regime for the mutual recognition of authorisations. This might envisage drawing on the technical standards and principles developed in Europe, subject to agreement with countries outside the EU.

The key proposals for consultation are:

The full document is available below Mobile Communications onboard Aircraft - Consultation on the introduction of mobile services on aircraft [pdf] - full print version