April 18, 2007 8:50 PM PDT

Qantas to test in-flight SMS

Australia-based airline Qantas has been given the green light to start testing in-flight mobile phone services, but voice services will be disabled. The Australian Communications and Media Authority gave the thumbs-up late Wednesday to a limited evaluation of GSM mobile phones and GPRS devices, but only for one commercial aircraft. According to a Qantas spokesperson, the three-month trial will involve a Boeing 767 plying between domestic capital cities.

Qantas has decided to limit the pilot to e-mail and text, and disable voice services. The spokesperson said once the e-mail and SMS evaluation ends, Qantas will decide if voice calls should be tested. Qantas said passengers wanting to send or receive an SMS will need international roaming activated, and a GSM mobile phone. To send or receive e-mail messages, a GPRS-enabled device would do. Telstra, Panasonic Avionics and AeroMobile will be part of the exercise.

See more CNET content tagged:
voice service, spokesperson, SMS, GPRS, Australia

1 comments

Join the conversation!
Add your comment (Log in or register)
Fantastic!
Let's see them do it in New Zealand, and Air New Zealand have the
b***s to follow suit.
Posted by Peter Barrett (2 comments )
Reply Link Flag
 

Join the conversation

Add your comment

The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. Click here to review our Terms of Use.

Inside CNET News

1-2 of 12

Scroll Left Scroll Right

RSS Feeds

Add headlines from CNET News to your homepage or feedreader.

Markets

Market news, charts, SEC filings, and more

Related quotes

Dow Jones Industrials (0.00%) 0.00 12,874.04
S&P 500 (0.00%) 0.00 1,351.77
NASDAQ (0.00%) 0.00 2,931.39
CNET TECH (0.00%) 0.00 2,049.14
  Symbol Lookup