U.S. mulls rules for airlines that plan in-flight Wi-Fi voice calls

The U.S. Department of Transportation may require airlines to inform passengers before purchasing tickets if they will allow voice calls using wireless devices on board their aircraft, thus hoping to placate customers who could object to having co-passengers chatting away on their phones in an enclosed space.

An alternative measure would be to ban all voice calls on domestic and international flights to or from the U.S., the DOT said in a proposal for which it has asked for comments within 60 days of publication of the notice on the Federal Register.

The Federal Communications Commission already bans the use of mobile devices on certain radio frequencies on board aircraft, including for voice calls, but it has not prohibited calls using the Wi-Fi network or other means, according to the DOT.

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