Ofcom yesterday offered a set of proposals to enable mobile phone use on British aircraft.

As the Daily Telegraph's Emma Thelwell explains, "Under Ofcom's proposals, once a plane reaches a minimum height of 3000 metres, an on-board 'base station,' which connects to the passenger's own mobile phone handset, may be switched on by the cabin crew... Calls would be billed through passengers' normal service providers."

Still, as Pocket-lint's Amy-Mae Elliott points out, there are quite a few steps remaining before you'll be able to use your phone in-flight. "The proposed services would have to satisfy both EASA (the European Aviation Safety Agency) and CAA (civil aviation authority) requirements before they could be introduced," she writes. "The earliest that services could be available from UK registered airlines is 2008, subject to approval by the relevant authorities."

"The prospect of mobile phones on planes has already raised serious concerns from some consumer groups," notes Times Online's Elizabeth Judge. "They fear that one of the final bastions of peace will be spoiled by incessant chatter. However, in its consultation document Ofcom says that it would fall to the airline companies to handle this issue and to decide if the consumer and commercial benefits outweigh any downsides."

More here from VNUnet ... more here from El Reg ... more here from BusinessWeek ... more here from PC World ... and Ofcom's press release is here.