|
Welcome or not, cell phones set for subway
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-02-06 09:56 NEW YORK - One of life's ironic
oases of solitude -- the peace people find amid the roar of a New York City
subway -- could soon be gone.
As New York plans to make cell phones work in subway stations, experts say
Americans eventually could be connected everywhere, underground or in the air.
A woman talks on
her cellphone on a subway train in New York, February 2, 2006. As New York
plans to make cell phones work in subway stations, experts say Americans
eventually could be connected everywhere, underground or in the air.
[Reuters] |
|
"It's technically feasible, both for airplanes and subways," said James Katz,
director of the Center for Mobile Communication Studies at Rutgers University in
New Brunswick, New Jersey. "It's the social aspect that's really the most
intractable."
People fall into two camps, one that defends the right to make calls no
matter the inconvenience to others and the other that likes an undisturbed
atmosphere, he said. Business people tend to belong to first camp, and leisure
travelers to the second, he added.
Any solitude found waiting for a New York subway is bound to end. City
officials have solicited bids to connect more than half the stations for cell
phone service, although there's no set timetable yet.
Service through the tunnels is another, more expensive matter, but even the
suggestion sends shudders through people who like being incommunicado.
"It's a time when people should unplug," said Jon Giswold, a personal trainer
in New York. "I rely on my cell phone, but I find it a safe haven on a train
when people can't get a hold of me."
Cell phone service in planes is further off, with the Federal Aviation
Administration determining if use in flight would interfere with electronic
equipment.
If it's found to be safe, providing service would be up to individual
airlines, an FAA spokeswoman said.
Meanwhile, most people aren't clamoring for cell phones in the sky.
|
