On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, JPG
Beware Churchill InsuranceLast month, I renewed my car insurance with Churchill over the phone. I paid the annual premium by credit card and thought no more about it and when the documentation arrived, I filed it...
That's not correct. While it is on standby and not moving very far, a mobile transmits every few tens of minutes to update the network as to its location. This is initiated by the network. The network knows where the phone is by its last such transmission. This is why turning off the phone transmits a signoff and the status is set to switched off, while unplugging the battery with it switched on will set the status to out of coverage, until that status times out and it reverts to switched off (normally when the next station initiated broadcast fails to get a response).
While it is on standby and moving (along a motorway, for example), a mobile transmits more frequently as different base stations appear with different strengths. This is initiated by the mobile which is constantly monitoring the strengths of all stations within range. The transmissions include handovers, updating the network with information about which station is the strongest.
While it is use, a mobile transmits continuously to carry the voice data.
If you want to save battery, don't cart it up and down the motorway. And, since mobiles blow up petrol stations, the best way to avoid this is to ignore the dangerous advice to 'switch off' given by the attendants.
-- Chris
