Airbus said it trialed a system that would allow air passengers to use their GSM cell phones on airplanes: The standard phones communicated with an onboard server that passed calls to Globalstar's satellite network. The satellites transmitted the calls to a ground station that forwarded them on to the recipient. It appears that airlines will likely charge customers for the privilege of using their phones onboard, though it's not clear how much. Also, it seems that the United States aviation authorities have been less eager than their counterparts overseas to accommodate for onboard cell phone use so it might be interesting to watch where such services first become available.