September 7, 2004
Do American hotels use cell phone jamming devices?
Engadget reports on a story in the The New York Times on the difficult time hotel guest have in getting cell phone reception - raising the question if hotels in America are using cell phone jamming devices.
"A theory is starting to gain traction among business travelers: hotels are blocking the signals.
They would certainly have the motive. Cellphones have taken a huge bite out of their earnings. Thanks largely to the preponderance of portables, the profits from in-room phones dropped 76 percent in four years, sliding from $644 an available room in 2000 to $152 last year, according to the hotel consulting firm PKF in San Francisco.
But are they so unhappy that they are biting back? No way, say hotel representatives. For starters, they point out, cellphone-blocking devices are illegal in the United States."
The idea is not so far-fetched, last August a mobile phone jamming scam was discovered in Scotland. cf Mobile Phone jame scam in Scottish hotels exposed.
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