Travelers who find flying an oasis away from the daily grind of modern life will be happy to hear that in-flight cell phone use will continue to be a dead issue, for the time being, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). So when you're 20,000 to 30,000 feet above land or sea, you'll still be out of reach of requests for that latest report or to shoot the breeze.

And (perhaps) more importantly to the thousands who've protested the possibility of cell phones being allowed to be used during flights since the FCC started its inquiry into the matter back in 2004, flying won't start to resemble morning commutes, with folks shouting into their mobile handsets to be heard above the din.

The FCC cited technical reasons for continuing to support a ban. In its announcement the government agency cited "insufficient technical information on whether the use of cellular phones onboard aircraft may cause harmful interference to terrestrial networks."

That's not the end of the matter, however.

The FCC left open the possibility of making in-flight cell phone use okay on American airplanes in the future, saying it would reconsidering the issue "if appropriate technical data is available."

In addition to the FCC airlines would have also needed the go ahead from Federal Aviation Administration to allow cell phone calls in sky. So there would have still been plenty of hurdles to overcome.

Europe is a different story. It has been reported that European airlines are aiming to start offering in-flight cell phone service by the end of 2007.

Wi-Fi access in the air may happen before cell phone use.

Last year, Colorado-based AirCell won an FCC air-to-ground spectrum license in auction for $31.3 million. (JetBlue Airways picked up a license as well.). AirCell plans to use this spectrum to start offering commercial broadband services sometime this year.

If this occurs, then airline passengers with laptops, PDAs and Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones (with the cellular-wireless connection turned off) , for example, should be able to access the Web, e-mail and other services in the air that they can on terra firma. It is not clear whether this would mean enabling users to leverage Voice over IP services (Skype, for example) to make phone calls through this in-flight high-speed broadband connection from their mobile device.

"Because the system will use commercially available technology and a direct air-to-ground link, its installation and operating costs will be very affordable, enabling U.S. airlines to safely provide the connectivity their passengers are demanding," AirCell said in its statement after winning the auction last June..