The Telecommunications Industry Association said the FAA should give deference...
The Telecommunications Industry Association said the FAA should give deference to work by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) as it considers rules for the use of portable electronic devices (PEDs) on commercial flights. TIA responded to an FAA…
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request for comment on current policy, guidance and procedures aircraft operators use when determining if passenger use of PEDs should be allowed during any phase of flight on their aircraft. (http://xrl.us/bnw7ju). “From a technical standpoint, TIA members believe that guarantee of safety from PED emissions to the airline passenger should rest with the airline operator -- as it does today -- and that all aircrafts (sic) should be able to handle PED transmissions, including those originating from PEDs accidentally left powered on during a flight,” TIA said. “Adopting flexible regulations that allow for any technology that does not cause safety concerns to the aircraft ... will result in maximum market participation, with the consumer benefitting in the end from a heightened quality of products and services. In short, if no safety or health issues are clearly present, any particular technology should be allowed for in-flight use [of] PEDs, and the FAA should further promote all capable technologies as viable options.” Comments were due Tuesday and are still being posted by the FAA (http://xrl.us/bnw7kt). CTIA agreed in comments released Wednesday that the FAA’s inquiry should be a “data-driven agency initiative.” “The lack of compelling evidence here raises questions about the need for the ban on the use of PEDs during takeoffs and landings provided that they are not transmitting in CMRS spectrum,” CTIA said (http://xrl.us/bnw8yx). The FAA’s current rules are based on research conducted between 1958 and 1961, which “concluded that portable frequency modulation (FM) radio receivers caused interference to navigation systems,” the comments said. “PEDs have evolved dramatically since then and today range from smartphones, tablets and e-readers to laptops, DVD players and video games,” CTIA argued. “Despite this evolution, the FAA’s approach has remained essentially unchanged -- even though more recent studies by the FAA’s federal advisory committee, RTCA, Inc., have not found conclusive data showing that PEDs interfere with aircraft systems.”