i think this is a pretty brilliant solution offering by Altobridge, which allows airline passengers to use their existing SIM card for in-flight telecom services. I'm sure this will be billed at a much higher rate than a terrestrial call, but if it can later offer a wirless bridge to in-flight calling, i think that will be an appealing offering for some. personally, i don't see a lot of people using seatback phones, partly because it's awkward, partly because it's too expensive, and partly because if you've ever used one, it seems to take 2 or 3 tries to get your credit card to work.
the counterpoint to this service will be Wi-Fi availability on planes and the rollout of MoWLAN phones. all of this is in the future, and partly this will be driven by consumer preferences for voice vs data on the plane. i know i'd rather send a quiet email on the plane instead of bothering my fellow passengers, but there are always people that prefer to make that call.
