Connexion by Boeing, the internet and the communication services arm of the aerospace giant, predicts that regulatory restrictions on mobile phones could be dropped in Europe in the middle of next year, after which the firm intends to launch cellular services at a price 'as close as possible to the fee for ground roaming'.

'Let's say you are a 3G user in Hong Kong and you pay US$2 to US$3 a minute roaming in China. Our pricing will be similar, but maybe with a little mark-up for the service,' said Chris Peterson, Connexion's product manager for voice and cellular data services.

The use of mobile phones on planes has long been a controversial issue. Along with cinemas, air travel remains one of the last remaining escapes from the sound of the latest ring tones and the state of being on-call 24 hours.

Connexion acknowledged the complexity of the issue, but said there were ways in which mobile-phone services could be implemented without undue disturbance to other customers, including service blackout times or allowing SMS and data services only.

Terrance Scott, the firm's media relations head, said it was also an 'emotional issue' for airlines as one of their main concerns was 'holding on to customers'.

A customer survey showed that 61 per cent of Connexion users were interested in making voice calls in the air, on mobile phones or via voice-over-internet protocol.

'We see mobile phones as the next big thing,' Mr Peterson said.

Since rolling out broadband services on a Lufthansa flight in May last year, Connexion has added 10 airline customers, including All Nippon Airways, Korean Air and China Airways. Earlier this year, Singapore Airlines became the first customer to offer Connexion's live TV service, with four channels including BBC, MSNBC and Eurosportsnews.

The company is in active talks with Cathay Pacific, Dragonair and all mainland carriers.

'Ten years ago it was a given that while you were travelling you were unreachable,' Mr Scott said. 'But corporate policies have changed, laptops have been issued and employees are expected to remain in contact. The key is that when you are in an aeroplane you are able to do all the things you do in your home or office.'

But while it has taken the company five years to reach this point, 'this is not an easy thing to do and that's why it is coming to the market now', Mr Scott said. Arguably, the bigger hurdles for the company have been regulatory rather than technical.

Beginning negotiations in 2000, the firm secured the necessary spectrum in 2003 and has since been working with every country individually to gain near global coverage, a task that is now 98 per cent complete.

The firm also faced a setback early on in the wake of September 11, when three US carriers - United, American and Delta - pulled out of commitments to equip 500 aircraft with the new service.

'Our business model flip-flopped after 9/11,' Mr Scott said. 'European and Asian carriers were the least hit and ended up becoming our earlier adopters. On September 10, our prospective customer segment looked very different to the way it does today.'

Perhaps surprisingly, however, there have been no objections from airlines to the idea of live television, despite the potential impact on passengers of breaking such news such as 9/11 itself.

'Airlines would prefer to be informed - and passengers would prefer to be informed,' Mr Scott said.