Cingular opposes lifting in-flight cellphone ban

In a rare corporate display of coming out against something they stand to benefit from, Cingular has sent a missive to the FAA indicating their position against lifting the in-flight cellphone ban. Their official take on the matter is that there is "a time and a place for wireless phone conversations, and seldom does that include the confines of an airplane flight." They even go so far as to say that, should the ban be lifted, they would be encouraging its customers to refrain from in-flight talking and use data services only ("tap, not talk"). However, oddly, in a joint letter to the FCC with Verizon, they indicated they might support lifting the ban if safeguards were in place to protect consumers on the ground from interference. So… which is it, dudes?

[Thanks, josh]