While researching this topic, I came upon a lot of interesting reasons for

restricting mobile phone use on airplanes. Listed below are some of them:

1. Airlines need passengers under control and the best way to

maintain that cattle-car atmosphere might just be with a set of
little rules beginning at takeoff.
2. The barrier is clearly political, not technological. No one in a
position of authority wants to change a policy that is later
implicated as a contributing factor toward a crash. Therefore, it's a
whole lot easier to do nothing and leave the policy as it is, in the
name of “caution.” (Since old airplanes with analog systems may
still be vulnerable to interference, it's best to make the rule
consistent.)
3. The FCC (and not the FAA) bans the use of cell phones using the
common 800-MHz frequency, as well as other wireless devices,
because of potential interference with the wireless network on the
ground. This also clogs the ground network since the signal
bounces off of multiple cell towers.
4. Mobile phones do interfere with airplane communications and
navigation networks – trust what they tell you :).
5. Since the towers might be miles below the aircraft the phone
might have to transmit at its maximum power to be received,
thereby increasing the risk of interference with electronic
equipment on the aircraft. Similar to Point 4.
6. The airlines might be causing more unnecessary interference on
planes by asking people to shut their devices down for take-off and
landing and then giving them permission to restart all at the same
time. This would increase interference so it's best to restrict
mobile phones for the complete duration.
7. Restrict any device usage that includes a battery.
8. A few devices, if left on, may not cause any interference. However
the case may be different if 50-100 or more devices are left on,
chattering away interfering with the plane communications
system. Furthermore, there would be no way for the flight crew to
easily determine which devices are causing the problem. So best is
to restrict usage completely.
9. If mobile phones are allowed on board, terrorists might use the
signal from a cell phone to detonate an onboard bomb.
10. Airlines support the ban on mobile usage because they do not want
passengers to have an alternative to the in-flight phone service.
This might have some truth to it since the phone service could be
very profitable for the companies involved.
11. Even though all aircraft wiring is shielded, over time shielding can
degrade or get damaged. Unshielded wires exposed to cell phone
signals may affect navigation equipment.
12. Another reason could be to keep passengers aware of the
important announcements and safety procedures from pilot and
crew, which otherwise could be ignored. In addition, these devices
in people's hands could cause injuries during an emergency
situation and hence should be required to be switched off during
landing and take-off. The idea being that since one could not
operate the device, most likely, passengers would keep them away
rather than holding them.

Which one do you find most relevant, or rather most funny?

In the end, it is not really an argument whether mobile phones should be

allowed. The whole point is what is the exact reason for restricting their
use on board?