Business travellers are set to lose their last sanctuary from the office with news that Qantas will evaluate the on-board use of mobiles and other portable devices, such as BlackBerries, in a three month trial on domestic routes, using a Boeing 767 as the test aircraft from early 2007.
Qantas spokeswoman Lesley Grant said business travellers were in favour of such a service.
“We have asked our business travellers about the concept. The overwhelming majority felt the service was a good idea,” she said.
But further customer feedback would be sought during the trial, including opinions on protocols for appropriate use of mobiles during flights, she said.
The system proposed by Qantas, in conjunction with partners Telstra, Panasonic Avionics and AeroMobile, would see the aircraft treated as a separate “country” in network terms, meaning mobile users would require an account capable of global roaming.
Passengers wanting to email would need a mobile device or laptop with a GPRS data connection, Ms Grant said.
Qantas had worked with telecommunications and aviation regulators to develop the service, which would not interfere with mobile services on the ground, Ms Grant said.
