Virgin Atlantic has announced that, first in its Airbus A330s and soon in other planes, passengers will be able to make and receive cell phone calls.
Virgin Atlantic has signed up to a service provided by AeroMobile, which uses GSM connections to allow voice calls from the air. Currently, the service is only up for grabs on flights between New York and London, and even then it will probably be limited to Business Class because data capacity is limited. But Virgin has said that by the end of 2012 the service will be offered on up to ten routes.
The phone calls will be charged at standard international roaming rates, but won't be allowed during take-off or landing. Or, in fact, within 250 miles of US airspace—something that doesn't look set to change any time soon. [The Telegraph]
Image by Derrick Coetzee under Creative Commons license