MIKE FITZGERALD SPHERE OF INFLUENCE: TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION

MIKE Fitzgerald is helping to shape what will undoubtedly be a global revolution in air travel.

He's not designing new aircraft, hasn't invented a more efficient turbine, and hasn't even figured out a way to make in-flight food taste good (now that would be something). He and his Kerrybased team at Altobridge have developed a technology platform to let you use your mobile phone at 30,000 ft.

Some will undoubtedly curse him and invoke a thousand plagues for ruining what has been the last refuge from mobile chatter. Others, including the airlines he'll count as clients, see this as a way of boosting revenues from a wired world.

Just last month, a joint venture between Norwegian telecoms firm Telenor and US-based ARINC, said it was using Altobridge's technology as part of a deal with Emirates airlines to allow its passengers to use their mobile phones during flights. It will be used on one aircraft initially, and plans are in place to roll it out across the carrier's fleet. Other airlines that will trial the system from next year include Qantas.

Altobridge doesn't just focus on air travellers. Last year, the company installed a remote GSM station at Australia's Antarctic science station to enable scientists there to use their mobile phones. The system works by integrating regular mobile phone technology with orbiting communications satellites owned by Inmarsat. It is also used by the maritime industry and emergency services that may be out of range of mobile base stations. Altobridge has also tried out the system with the US Department of Homeland Security.

Despite counting Ryanair founder Tony Ryan among its investors, Altobridge lost out on a deal to equip the low-cost carrier's fleet with its technology.

Ryanair instead plumped for German outfit OnAir. Fitzgerald isn't bothered. He thinks, unsurprisingly, that Altobridge's technology is superior.

But if you're expecting nonstop gossiping on that 12-hour flight to Hong Kong, think again.

Costs may still be high . . . possibly around $1.99 a minute, so it should keep calls short and sweet. But, as call volume increases, costs should fall, which could mean, for some, very frayed tempers.