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A couple of international airlines have recently announced the availability of on-flight mobile phone services. Obviously, talking on the cell phone is not dangerous, as we have been made to believe. If it is allowed, I think with all the safeguards in place, there will be lots of people who will finish a lot of office and other work while airborne. Actually, working on a laptop is not a very pleasant experience in these tight-fitting airline seats. But yes, the option of talking will be more than welcome, I am sure.

A recent survey of 1,000 air passengers by a travel magazine shows that 2% respondents accepted that they would be happy to use their phones on a plane, and 17% said they might be tempted, but only if they were delayed. So it's not that there is no market-I am sure that if this facility is available, more and more people will use it.

The main finding of the survey however gives a different picture. The survey revealed that almost 76% of the respondents would not like to use their mobile phones in the flight. This is interesting especially at a time when airlines are announcing that passengers would be able to use their cell phones when flying. While the travelers might not be too keen, airlines and the operators surely see benefits.

Another finding of the survey I have not mentioned so far is even more damaging. One respondent said that he would stop flying if cell phones were allowed on airplanes. The reason is that this person is already fed up with flying stress and if there would be people chatting on mobile phones all around, it would become completely unbearable.

I see his point-imagine taking a very early morning two and a half hour flight from Delhi to Bangalore, and instead of just stretching on your seat and dosing off, the passenger on the next seat keeps talking endlessly, and your sleep goes out of the window.

As the telecom sector as well as the airline sector hot up and get more competitive and hungry for newer revenue streams, one is likely to see these services being offered in India too. Will it be a value-add or a value eroder, is not going to be an easy question, unless and until tried out.

ibrahima@cybermedia.co.in