Chocks away for in-flight cell phone test
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“Airborne cell phone service took a test flight on Thursday, in a safety and technology demonstration aimed at easing fears that mobile calls interfere with navigation systems. During a two-hour ‘proof of concept’ flight 30,000 feet over Dallas, wireless-gear maker Qualcomm joined American Airlines to show off a service using CDMA, or Code Division Multiple Access, technology. An onboard cellular base station the size of a laptop was linked to a Globalstar satellite, which funneled calls and short text messages to Earth-bound cell phones, Qualcomm said. ‘Even though commercial availability of cell phone use in-flight is approximately 24 months away, (this is) an important step in bringing in-cabin wireless services to our customers,’ Dan Garton, an executive vice president [of] American Airlines, said in a statement.”