On Thursday, June 27, 2002, at 04:54 , Leigh Anne Chisholm wrote:
The FCC prohibits communication using a cellular telephone while in an aircraft in US airspace. In Canada, I don't believe there is such a regulation.
I couldn't find the energy to go swimming in the Canadian Air Regulations, but I did find this in the AIP Canada:
COM 5.14 Pilot Cellular Phone Use During a Radio Communications Failure
[...]
In the event of an in-flight radio communications failure, and only after normal communications failure procedures have been followed (see RAC 6.3.2.1), the pilot-in-command may attempt to contact the appropriate NAV CANADA ATS unit by means of a cellular phone. Before the pilot begins using a cellular phone to contact ATS in the event of an in-flight communications failure, transponder-equipped aircraft should squawk Code 7600 (see RAC 1.10.7).
This at least suggests that there's no CRTC restriction on using cellular telephones from altitude (or that any such CRTC restrictions can be overriden by Transport Canada). Joe