October 23, 2003
US Military convoys in Iraq to be alerted of nearby cell phones or pagers.
As American casualties mount in Iraq, Pentagon officials are rushing new bomb- and sniper-detection equipment to the country in an effort to thwart attacks on troops, the military's top research scientist said yesterday, according to the Seattle Post Intelligencer.
Among the equipment destined for Iraq: "A mobile electronic signals locator that would alert military convoys traveling through Iraq to nearby cell phones or pagers. Some of the roadside bombs used to attack convoys have been triggered by cell phones or pagers."
That's interesting, as three GSM licenses were only awarded in Iraq earlier this month. Private networks were already providing services before that, but coverage must have been pretty spotty.
For more on cell phones triggering bombs, cf previous entries in Textually.org.
The Permanent Link to this page is: http://www.textually.org/textually/archives/2003/10/002065.htm