Because of the structure of this Forum it doesn't seem possible to add a post without tagging on as a reply to another post. Apologises to @DFScale as this post is not a reply to the post to which it is appended but rather a general comment about this topic.

Once again a thread studiously ignoring that part of the population that lives in areas without mobile reception!

iPhone, Pixel and Samsung phones to have satellite connectivity soon. Though geographically limited initially.

Also in 2022, Apple launched the SOS safety feature with the iPhone 14 series that allows users to connect to emergency response agencies through satellite connectivity. (I don't know how widespread).

In reply to a post by GonePostal:

Because of the structure of this Forum it doesn't seem possible to add a post without tagging on as a reply to another post. Apologises to @DFScale as this post is not a reply to the post to which it is appended but rather a general comment about this topic.

I tend to read the forum as 'flat', so unless it's a direct reply like this it gets tagged onto the last dated post.

Once again a thread studiously ignoring that part of the population that lives in areas without mobile reception!

As per us, we rely on WiFi calling for mobile, when we lost all internet and phone, had to drive several miles to get signal to phone doc's.

Practically zero risk.
There was a piece on Mythbusters about using Mobile phones in petrol stations.
They tested it in multiple ways and could not get the phone to cause ignition.
The most extreme test involved putting a phone in a clear perspex case filled with petrol vapours and calling it, they did this in a low signal area so the phone would send a more powerful signal.
The result was nothing happened.

Thanks
Dan

I found that most of the hardware was available - BUT the service providers, ether a Local Authority or their sub-cons, are not. When I spoke to them there were various excuses for not installing the appropriate solutions in their monitoring centre. One comment was "we are planning to look at it in 18 months time" or "there is no requirement at present" ...

In reply to a post by danielhyde:

Practically zero risk.
There was a piece on Mythbusters about using Mobile phones in petrol stations.

However there are cases of mobile phone fires due to spontaneous combustion of batteries in some circumstances. Possibly not "practically zero risk?"

In reply to a post by danielhyde:

The result was nothing happened.

They tested the obvious, and it was a good test (I watched it).

However the other risk is that the mobile affects the pump so it doesn’t measure how much you discharged.

Given the EU directives in the 1990s that should no longer be an issue, and one of many reasons the ban in hospitals was reversed. (That never made sense, senior surgeons/consultants always had their phones, and many hospitals have cell sites on the roof!)

In reply to a post by 4M2:

However there are cases of mobile phone fires due to spontaneous combustion of batteries in some circumstances. Possibly not "practically zero risk?"

Galaxy Note 7 the most famous, and a complete design fault. Battery larger than the case it fit in, so the battery was constantly squashed.

Watch the airlines, if they ban something you know its more than ‘practically zero’ and they haven’t yet banned tablets, phones, and laptops from flight. (Rules on laptops due to weight etc).

I think the hospital phone ban was more to do with protecting revenue on the expensive patient service consoles, where you call in and out using a premium rate number, and you also pay for TV by the day.

Airlines did ban use of mobile phones for years, supposedly because of risk of interfering with flight systems. But since planes gained on-board wifi, and more recently micro cells, magically those worries have evaporated.

Airlines banned the use of mobiles on aircraft beacuse there was no proof they did not interfere and the potential risk was too high. Plus the operators wanted them banned until onboard pico cells were operational to stop interference with serveral cell sites. They are still banned during critical flight phases for two main reasons, still the potential for an issue and that they want passengers to not be distracted in an ememrgency.

There is proof that some interferencce does occur with the audio systems on the flight decks with breakthrough. Something the pilots do not want during take off and landing - I've been there and heard it many times.