THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL FINALLY PHASE OUT THE LONG REQUIRED AIRPLANE MODE

Airplane Mode has always been somewhat of a mystery to me.  I’m just old enough that I remember its inception, and the first time I heard the very stern instruction over a plane’s intercom informing me to turn it on if my phone had it, or to turn my phone off completely if it didn’t.  It created a strange authoritarian dynamic, where as a passenger I was aware of how many frequent flyers simply ignored the instruction and continued using their phones fully connected.  Fortunately, none of those resistant people caused the plane to crash.  In fact, I’m not aware of any plane crashing from a phone not being on Airplane Mode.  And now, there is news that the European Union is going to phase out Airplane Mode completely.

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AIRPLANE MODE WILL NO LONGER BE NECESSARY, AS PASSENGERS CAN USE A 5G NETWORK

The European Commission recently decided to let air passengers use data while flying, and also perhaps make live calls during flights.  It’s not clear what has changed with cellular technology (or on the planes themselves) to make this suddenly safe and not a risk of causing a crash.  But the new decision will also let airlines provide 5G technology to their passengers.  So now, passengers will be able to actively stream music and videos, access their apps that function on a network connection, and make phone calls using a 5G network.

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WILL IT EVER BE CLEAR WHY AIRPLANE MODE WAS EVER REALLY REQUIRED?  AND WILL U.S. EVER FOLLOW THE EU?

Airlines will be able to deliver this new, rapid data service using “pico-cell” equipment that accesses a satellite network that connects to ground-based mobile networks.  And that seems to be what is new, and will make Airplane Mode a thing of the recent past.  This after years of being told that it was to prevent our cell phones from interfering with a plane’s navigation systems.  But Business Insider reported in 2017 that the real reason was “protect against radio interference to cell phone networks on the ground.”  Now, that concern is minimal in the EU and UK.

Yet for some reason, the United States is still concerned about 5G being safe to use in the air, so Airplane Mode won’t be a thing of the past in America anytime soon.  Don’t expect a believable explanation as to why anytime soon, either.