Cell phones on commercial flights---whose rule?

[deyoung]

I read recently (on the Internet, so it must be true!) that the commercial carriers' prohibition of cell phone use on commercial flights does not actually come from the FAA, but rather from the FCC, based (broadly speaking anyway) on the fact that cell phones operate outside the frequency ranges that the FCC has given license approval for airborne transmitters.

Can anyone who knows for sure confirm or refute?

Thanks!

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Google "fcc rule on cellphone use on planes" provides a link to the Wikipedia article on the subject