As the FCC gets ready to debate the use of cell phones on airplanes in the U.S. today, one mobile communications company is speaking out against the chorus of anti-phone sentiment.

OnAir says the FCC’s current rules are outdated and that this would simply give fliers the same rights as they have in every other part of the world.

"Over four and a half million passengers use OnAir inflight connectivity each year and what is very striking is that there has not been one single complaint about disruption caused by phone calls," said Ian Dawkins, CEO of OnAir. "Mobile OnAir is available on every continent apart from North America. People from all over the world, including Americans, use it every day."

Passengers typically use Mobile OnAir, OnAir's inflight cell phone service, for data - largely email - to update Facebook and Twitter, and for text messaging.

Voice calls, which cost around $3 to $4 per minute, account for slightly over 10 percent of total inflight usage and the average call length is under two minutes.

"Based on the factual evidence of six years of inflight cell phone usage around the world, I can be absolutely clear that there is nothing to fear from the use of cell phones during flights," said Dawkins.

Mobile OnAir has flown with more than 25 airlines on hundreds of thousands of flights across the world since 2007, with the full backing of over 100 national authorities.

OnAir's airline customers include world-leading global airlines such as Aeroflot, British Airways, Emirates, Philippine Airlines, Qatar Airways and Singapore Airlines. Mobile OnAir is currently on around 16,000 flights a month and 380,000 passengers connect to OnAir each month.

"Since the FCC first announced its plan to change the rules, lots of people in the U.S. have made it clear they think voice calls shouldn't be allowed on aircraft, including some politicians seeking to impose a draconian ban on inflight calls. We will of course oppose such legislation, based on the facts of six years experience," continued Dawkins.

"However, we do understand the concerns: we had exactly the same thoughts when we began developing the service ten years ago. That is why we included a feature that allows the cabin crew and pilots to turn off the voice element, for example during quiet times such as the plane's night or during safety announcements."