I read the Intercept report it sites. It sounds like they experimented with a pilot program to put small cell base stations (I called them nano-cells or femto-cells) in planes that connected to a satellite-based network. Users would be able to place calls as if they were on the ground. They abandoned the program in favor on a similar program to provide data only.

I wonder if maybe they left the GSM nanocell base station in place on the airlines, pinging the satellites, not to place calls, but to know the whereabouts of everyone with a GSM phone not in airplane mode. So if a criminal suspect's phone ping disappeared at an airport, they could check to see if it was pinging from within the plane. If it's pinging from the plane, they know his phone's on the plane, If not, they don't know if he turned it off an stayed on the ground or got on the plane.

This seems like a lot of work when they could just get the airport to report scanning boarding passes. Something just doesn't quite add up. We're not getting the full story.

I'm sure they would eavesdrop, but this article makes no sense. It sounds like they're saying they had secret terrestrial receivers spying on "everyday" GSM calls from >10,000 ft going through a satellite. If they mean regular cell phone calls, GSM calls go through terrestrial stations. There's too much frequency re-use so they don't work well > 10,000ft, and the airlines don't allow them anyway. Air France airline says they don't even have any type of voice call service. Maybe the report is talking about some kind of special satellite-based service not commonly used by the public. This article doesn't add up.