I don't think this will happen , a study was just recently conducted that showed with all the wireless signals in the cabin interference was caused by the cellphones.
Let's put this in the proper perspective. Cell phones transceivers operating at full power while attempting to reach a land based cell tower "may" cause interference with the navigational systems of aircraft. This has not been proven as of yet, and the FAA will not permit regular cell phone use in flight without quantifying the risks. Therefore, they are conducting studies to find out if a full power phone (or many phones operating at the same time) can interfere with the nav system.
Boeing and other electronics firms have developed systems that involve having an antenna in the cabin of the aircraft that captures the cell phone signal at the lowest operating power, and re-transmits the signal to the ground through a satellite directed external antenna. A cell phone (or group of cell phones) operating at their lowest transmitting power is unlikely to create enough energy to disrupt the nav systems. Boeing has proven their Connexion system, and it is FAA approved.
The question remains, do airlines want to invest in the technology to allow inflight cell phone use through Connexion or other satellite based systems? That is something that will be dictated by the marketplace, and at a cost of $5.00 to $10.00 per flight to use the system, how many people will actually use it? Fixed Air phones are not very popular, even with Verizon offering lower rates for their regular cell phone customers.
The other problem that is not frequently discussed is older cell phones and their propensity to create a rather large frequency footprint on ground based cell phone towers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates cell phone use within the U.S. and an older multi-frequency analog phone (2 to 4 years old) can and will work on an aircraft at 35,000 feet. The difficulty lies in that the analog signal locks onto more than one cell tower and jams several cells at a time, disrupting ground based service for hundreds of customers at a time. With the number of older analog phones still in use,
the FCC is reluctant to give approval to air carriers to allow cell phones to be used in flight.
The last hurdle is the courtesy/annoyance factor of having a number of customers chatting away while locked in a tube at 35,000 feet. It will inevitably lead to squabbles and increase the workload for flight crews to disarm challenging situations among the customers.
