Use of Mobile Phones on Board Aircraft

AERONAUTICAL COMMUNICATIONS PANEL (ACP)

16th FIRST MEETING OF WORKING GROUP F

Montreal, Canada 11 – 15 December 2006

Use of radio transmitting equipment (mobile phones) on board aircraft

(Presented by the Secretary)

1.Introduction.

1.1The use of radio transmitting equipment on board an aircraft is governed by Article 30 of the Convention on international civil aviation. (Re. Appendix A).

1.2The provisions of Art. 30 only relate to the use of transmitting equipment installed on board an aircraft for the purpose of the safety and regulatory of the aircraft. As such, it does NOT address equipment installed or used (e.g. cellular phones) on board and aircraft for other purposes.

1.3At the 29th Assembly, Resolution A29-19 was approved, further clarifying the legal relation between transmitting equipment installed and used on board aircraft for safety-of-life purposes and other transmitting equipment. That Resolution, explicitly, recognizes that article 30(b) cannot be interpreted as a provision prohibiting the use of transmitting equipment by unlicensed persons for non-safety related air-ground communications.

1.4Text complete text of Article 30 is in Appendix A and the complete text of Assembly Resolution A29-19 is in Appendix B to this paper.

1.5The use of cellular phones by passengers on board an aircraft, while in flight, has become an urgent issue where the role of ICAO requires further clarification. This paper concentrates on the use of such equipment. A brief overview of the system proposed is in Appendix C.

2.Essentially where Assembly Resolution A29-19 clarifies that the provisions in the ICAO convention cannot be used to preclude non-safety communications (public correspondence) from an aircraft, it can also not explicitly be permitted under the same regulatory regime. Other agreements that would regulate such use, established outside the scope of ICAO, need to be complied with (e.g. the provision of the ITU Radio Regulations) or established.

3.The conditions, annexed to Assembly Resolution A29-19 include conditions for the use of radio-equipment for non-safety communications. Condition (i) and (ii) may not apply for the use of cellular phones, since the license and the operator are not related to one single aircraft. It is only a part of the total system that is installed on board an aircraft and for which these conditions would apply.

4. Condition (iv) leaves it to any member State, when applying its national regulations, to place technical and operating conditions on the use of cellular phones.

5.Important to ICAO are the provisions in condition (iii), where compliance with the requirements of the ITU and the Radio Regulations is indicated and in particular the avoidance of harmful interference to avionics in the aircraft, essential for the safety of the aircraft. No such requirements can be developed by ICAO under the [current] provisions of the Convention.

6.This means, that in providing general or specific provisions to which Member States should adhere, ICAO’s role is limited. Currently, the only ICAO provision on the use of cellular phones on-board aircraft is a recommendation (or merely a suggestion) to aircraft operators to include in their operators manual provisions securing that no cellular phones be used on board and aircraft. More generic provisions are difficult, if not impossible, to establish because of the different susceptibility of aircraft (even of the same model) to interference from cellular phones. However, ICAO can develop general guidance on this subject which can be included as guidance material in a proper ICAO publication, should this be necessary.

7.It is of importance that the technical conditions with which the elements of the cellular phone system need to comply are part of the license. The responsibility for this is with the authorities issuing the station license (i.e. the radio regulators).

8. ICAO is concerned about developments taking place in CEPT where a decision, permitting the use of cellular phones on board an aircraft has been approved without proper coordination with ICAO. The conditions for using of such systems should have been established in cooperation between CEPT and ICAO.

9.The ICAO European Air Navigation Planning Group addressed this issue at the recent meeting (December 2006). The report addressing the use of cellular phones on board an aircraft is in Appendix D.

9.1Of importance is the EANPG conclusion inviting States to withhold certification of the new systems until all potential effects of the cellular phones (GSM) on the safety of the aircraft have been studied and safety requirements are confirmed to be met as well as the need for ITU to adopt a global approach to the radio regulatory aspects. This should also include the use of cellular phones that connect directly to a terrestrial network. Such use has already demonstrated to be capable of compromising the safety of the aircraft. This approach is supported by the Secretariat.

Appendix A

Convention on international civil aviation

…..

Article 30Aircraft radio equipment

a) Aircraft of each contracting State may, in or over the territory of other contracting States, carry radio transmitting apparatus only if a license to install and operate such apparatus has been issued by the appropriate authorities of the State in which the aircraft is registered. The use of radio transmitting apparatus in the territory of the contracting State whose territory is flown over shall be in accordance with the regulations prescribed by that State.

b) Radio transmitting apparatus may be used only by members of the flight crew who are provided with a special license for the purpose, issued by the appropriate authorities of the State in which the aircraft is registered.

…….

Appendix B

Assembly resolution A29-19: Legal aspects of the global air-ground communications

Whereas the Legal Committee, at its 28th Session, considered the subject “legal aspects of global air-ground communications”;

Whereas the Legal Committee interpreted Article 30(a) of the Chicago Convention as recognizing the sovereignty of States in the airspace over their territory and subjecting public correspondence to the regulations of the State overflown;

Whereas the Legal Committee recommended to the Council that it should invite this Assembly to adopt a resolution which reflects the recommendation of the Legal Committee;

The Assembly resolves:

1. that nothing in Article 30(b) of the Chicago Convention shall be taken to preclude the use by unlicensed persons of the radio transmitting apparatus installed upon an aircraft where that use is for non-safety related air-ground radio transmissions;

2. that all Member States should ensure that such use of such apparatus shall not be prohibited in their air space; and

3. that such use of such apparatus shall be subject to the conditions set out in the Annex hereto.

ANNEX

Whenever a Member State is the State of Registry (or State of the operator under the terms of Article 83 bis of the Convention on International Civil Aviation when it enters into force and is applied to a specific case) of an aircraft, the radio transmitting apparatus on board that aircraft may, while in or over the territory of another Member State, be used for non-safety air-ground radio transmissions subject to the following conditions:

(i) compliance with the conditions of the licence for the installation and operation of that apparatus issued by the State of Registry (or State of the operator) of the aircraft;

(ii) any person may use that apparatus for non-safety air-ground radio transmissions provided always that control of that apparatus shall be by an operator duly licensed by the State of Registry (or State of the operator) of the aircraft;

(iii) compliance with the requirements of the International Telecommunication Convention and the Radio Regulations adopted thereunder as amended from time to time, including the applicable radio frequencies, the avoidance of harmful interference with other services and priority for aeronautical communications relating to distress, safety and regularity of flight; and

(iv) compliance with any technical and operating conditions set forth in the applicable regulations of the Member State in or over whose territory the aircraft is operating.

Appendix C

The following picture shows an example of usage of cellular phones on board an aircraft where the cellular phone is linked to the backbone terrestrial networks via a satellite link

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1

Extract from the EANPG report (December 2007)

“4.3.7On the technical side the studies carried out up to date have been focused on the impact GSM mobile phones application on board aircraft on the ground GSM network. However the impact of GSM in combination with pico-cell devices on aircraft systems was not investigated. The existence of different mobile communication systems in the different parts of the world should be also taken into account. In general all technical issues shall be carefully studied before any decision is taken by aviation community.

4.3.8 Disharmonized regulation in interpretation for application of GSM on board aircraft between

different regions, airlines and aircraft types shall be avoided. Incoherence in regulation can potentially lead to the increased number of passenger’s air-rages considering that using mobile phones in public places is already considered as annoying factor by majority of society.

4.3.9 Aviation needs to discuss these issues urgently and make unambiguous and easily

enforceable global decision on the application of GSM on board aircraft to ensure the continued safety of the aircraft and the passengers."

The EANPG developed the following conclusion:

EANPG Conclusion 48/BB GSM on board aircraft

That:

a) the issue of GSM on board aircraft be brought to the attention of appropriate bodies within

ICAO to address these issues such that unambiguous guidance/regulation can be provided on

a global basis

b) EASA and States, as appropriate, are invited to withhold certification of the systems until all

potential effects of GSM on board application are studied and safety requirements are

confirmed to be met

c) States urged to alert National radio regulatory authorities on the issues identified in the paper

to ensure that a consistent set of spectrum protection requirements can be determined and

raise the matter with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) such that a global

approach can be adopted to the radio regulatory aspects.

d) International Air Transportation Association (IATA) and International Business Aviation

Council (IBAC) are invited to provide assistance in assessing the potential impact of the use

of mobile phones from a flight crew’s perspective and practicality of enforcing any proposed

regulation, and to ensure that, clear guidance be provided on the use of mobile phones on

aircraft.