Washington - Cell telephone users already dismayed at losing their signal
in tunnels, large buildings and in mysterious "dead spots" can
blame another factor for cutting off their vital conversations - solar
bursts.
Bursts of microwave energy from the sun can disrupt wireless cell
communications several times a year, a team at Lucent Technologies' Bell
Labs in Murray Hill, New Jersey, said on Wednesday.
They are worst at so-called solar maximums, which are marked by sunspot
and other activity and which cycle every 11 years, but the bursts can come
at any time, the researchers, who used data from the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration and the US Air Force, said.
Writing in the March-April issue of the journal Radio Science, published
by the American Geophysical Union, Louis Lanzerotti and colleagues said
solar radio bursts strong enough to disrupt a cellular telephone call
occur between 10 and 20 days a year.
Cell antennas pointing east-west are more susceptible during mornings and
evenings than at noon, they said.
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In some countries, public authorities or the
operators themselves have established public databases that
provide information regarding the location of base stations
within the local community. We will update this information
as more public databases become available online.
