Cell Phones

Tired of cell phone interruptions and the poor etiquette of others when they are on cell phone calls? It seems that four churches in Monterrey, Mexico are too! They have started jamming calls. The $1,500 jammers are boxes about the size of walkie-talkies. As churchgoers walk into the sanctuary, the devices overwhelm the cellphones with electronic noise. Within a few minutes, the phones show “no signal,” incoming calls don’t ring, and callers are bounced to the phones’ voice mail.

Jamming cell phones is illegal in Mexico, the United States and most other Western countries, but it appears that Mexico’s Federal Telecommunications Commission has looked the other way. In the United States, cell phone jammers are supposed to be used only by embassies, the military, the Secret Service and police, who use the devices to isolate hostage-takers.