User talk:Ahmadatefi

Terrestrial Flight Telephone Systems (TFTS)
TFTS is a digital system by which public telecommunications services (phone, fax, data transmission, paging, etc.) are provided to the passengers on board aeroplanes, allowing them to communicate with terrestrial subscribers of different networks.

Based on market forecasts and requests from industry, CEPT designated spectrum and provided relevant regulatory provisions for TFTS in a number of ERC recommendations and ERC decisions. Following the ERC decision, The WARC92 allocated frequency spectrum for the Terrestrial Flight Telecommunication System within the frequency bands 1670 - 1675 / 1800 - 1805 MHz (see FN 5.380).

ERC Decision ERC/DEC/(92)01 “Decision on the frequency bands to be designated for the coordinated introduction of TFTS was developed during 1992 to enhance the development of an Aeronautical Public Correspondence (APC) service providing public telecommunications facilities between passengers on aircraft and users on the ground. With that ERC Decision as a basis, ERC/DEC/(97)08 outlined the procedures for co-ordination and management of the frequencies used for TFTS and provided the factual TFTS Ground –Station Plan (Schiever Channel Assignment Plan) in Annex 2 of the ERC Decision.

Although TFTS networks were licensed in many CEPT countries, the poor growth in subscriber numbers had shown them not to have been an economic success in Europe. Based on a survey carried out by the ERO the vast majority of CEPT administrations indicated that there was no further interest in TFTS in the bands 1670 - 1675 MHz / 1800 – 1805 MHz. Consequently, the ECC Plenary withdrew ERC/DEC/(92)01 in November 2002 and with that ERC/DEC/(97)08 was also withdrawn.

In the US, the FCC allocated four megahertz of spectrum for commercial Air-Ground Radiotelephone Service (corresponding US system to TFTS in Europe), authorizing operation at 849-851 MHz (ground stations) and 894-896 MHz (airborne mobile stations) in 1990.

Six operators were originally licensed requiring all systems to conform to detailed technical specifications to enable shared use of the air-ground channels. Only three of the six licensees built systems and provided service, and two of those failed for business reasons. Only Verizon Airfone remains as an incumbent in the band. On May 10, 2006, the FCC began the auction process to sell off the 4 MHz of spectrum over which radiotelephone calls were made, and required AirFone to revise its equipment within two years of the auction's conclusion on June 2, 2006. −Ahmadatefi 14:51, 24 January 2007 (UTC)