The European Telecommunications Standards Institute has published its first draft of standards for airborne and ground-based telephone systems. The draft standards cover the interconnection of airborne elements of in-flight services with ground stations, interfaces with network management systems and connection to land-based networks. Three types of ground station have been specified to support in-flight services: en route, intermediate and airport. The technology of the ground stations will be similar to that used in land-based cellular radio telephone systems, except for the range of the ground stations. Height coverage of en route ground stations will be 15,000 to 43,000 feet. Breadth of coverage will also be greater: an en-route station will have a radius of about 220 miles. Intermediate cells will give coverage from 100 to 15,000 feet, while airport-based stations will provide service on or just above the ground.
