Like a nearby cellphone user with an annoying way of saying, "Helllloooo!" recently confirmed FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has already hit a nerve.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission's proposal to allow cellular services on airliners, advanced less than a month after Wheeler's confirmation in late October, had drawn more than 400 brickbats from wary citizens even before the official comment period began Wednesday with its publication in the Federal Register. Submissions that came before the comment period still count.
Unlike most FCC issues, which tend to draw highly technical and legal arguments, the in-flight cellphone concept has kindled the passions—and penmanship—of many ordinary Americans.
"Dear FCC," begins one entry to Docket No. 13-301, received in the agency's mailroom on Dec. 23, "What better use of my extra Christmas card than to ask you to please use any influence you have, during the process of allowing cellular use on planes, to guide airlines towards allowing data but not voice use in flight. Thank you." Dave Moncjeau, who sent the card from Springvale, Maine, even wrote in "Happy Holidays" and "Merry Christmas."
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