
The FBI and Department of Homeland Security are objecting to a proposal to permit the use of cellular telephones and other wireless devices on airplanes. Unless telecommunications providers follow a lengthy list of eavesdropping requirements for calls made aloft, the FBI and Homeland Security don’t want cellular or wireless connections to be permitted. In a letter to the Federal Communications Commission sent last Thursday, the police agencies said any rule permitting “in-flight personal wireless telephone use must consider public safety and national security” concerns.