67 replies to this topic

[dan]

That doesn't answer Matthew's question; how do you know that the call is about your children? Also, vibrating phones are audible, and whilst they might not annoy the rest of the auditorium, the people nearby can hear it: and what if there is a call? Answering it will certainly affect other people's concentration on the show, and therefore their enjoyment. Not to mention lack of respect to the actors.

I'd know the call was child related because the call would be coming from the person looking after them.

I realise how unpopular this viewpoint is but I make no bones about holding it.

[Matthew Winn]

I'd know the call was child related because the call would be coming from the person looking after them.

But you'd still have to get your phone out and check it, annoying everyone around you.

The point I was trying to make is that if you've left your children with someone else then I presume you trust that person to be able to deal with any crisis that occurs. You're not in a situation where every second counts. Your children aren't depending on you.

You could call home five minutes before the show starts, again at the interval, and again after the show. That means there's only about 75 minutes between calls. Unless you live right round the corner from the theatre the time between calls is small compared with the time it would take you to get home. In a real crisis that would require you to leave the theatre in the middle of an act you'd get home far too late to be any use anyway. You need to be able to trust those who are looking after your children to do a good job. If you don't think they're up to the responsibility then find someone else. Or, as I said, let the person looking after your children know where you are and where you're sitting so you can be contacted via the theatre.

Dammit, I've seen parents on stage. You don't see the cast stopping in mid-scene to answer a phone just in case it's about their children. Six nights a week they trust someone else to handle anything that might happen. Why can't you?

More generally, I worry about people who think that being in contact at all times is essential. Any obsession like this that interferes with normal life is a psychological disorder. I once saw a co-worker go into hysterics, crying and screaming, because she'd left her phone at home and wasn't able to cope with the idea that she couldn't be contacted. She actually had to book time off work so she could go home and get her phone, which qualifies it as an obsessive disorder and she really ought to seek counselling. Many people with mobile phones need to get a grip and realise that it's OK to be out of contact for an hour or two. The world is able to carry on without them.

[Duncan]

This is the official Ofcom position on jammers.

Mobile phone jammers and cellular enhancers

Deliberate Interference

The use of any apparatus, whether or not wireless telegraphy apparatus, for the purpose of interfering with any wireless telegraphy, is an offence under the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949. It is an arrestable offence that on conviction in Crown Court carries a maximum penalty of two years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine. The courts can also order forfeit of any apparatus used in the commission of the offence.

Jammers

Jammers are devices which are intended to prevent radio equipment from receiving and transmitting the signals relevant to their function. Use of such devices therefore constitutes the specific offence of causing deliberate interference. Many radio applications can be the target of such devices, including TETRA communications systems and 2.4GHz radio Local Area Networks, but the most common targets are mobile phones. By transmitting signals on the frequencies at which GSM and UMTS operations are conducted, mobile phone jammers make it impossible for a handset located within their range of action to make or receive calls and messages.

Often targeted for use in such areas as theatres, cinemas, examination halls and libraries where the use of mobile phones can prove annoying, Jammers are likely to affect wider areas and other frequencies than those they are intended for. They can also result in the disruption of emergency and rescue radio services in the public area.

Legality of jammers

Jammers are also subject to the Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive (EMC) Directive EC89/336 which has been implemented into UK law by the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations 1992 (Sl 1992/2372) as amended. These regulations specify that all electrical and electronic apparatus placed on the market or taken into service in the UK, including imports, satisfy specific requirements to ensure that they do not cause excessive electromagnetic interference or are adversely affected by it and have to carry the CE mark to show compliance. The European Commission supports Members States’ views that since jammers by their nature cause significant electromagnetic interference it is likely that most do not comply with the UK regulations and therefore they cannot be legally placed on the UK market. The maximum penalty for supplying non-compliant equipment under the regulations is a fine of up to £5,000. The courts can order forfeiture of stocks of equipment. Ofcom will take appropriate enforcement action, including prosecution, to enforce the above legal provisions.

Alternatives to jammers

It is understandable that the owners of theatres, cinemas, concert halls, restaurants etc may want to restrict the use of mobile phones within their premises but jamming is an inappropriate means of achieving this. The alternative, legal way to do this is by education and publicity in informing users to keep mobile phones switched off when requested to do so.

http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/enforcement/jammers/

[siobhan]

I'm all for it!

When I went to see 'Seven brides for seven brothers' the actors nearly stopped what they were doing because a mobile in the stalls kept going off, It not only distracts the audience but the performance and the concentration of the people on stage.

[Belle]

As I understand it, there are two elements not yet considered on this thread, another problem and another solution.

Problem - you know how if your phone is near a speaker when a call is coming in, it causes beeping and interference before the phone rings?  That interference affects the systems used in the theatre, whether the phone is silenced or not, as it is the phone signal causing the problem, not the phone ringing.

Solution - apparently, there is a way of using iron filings inbedded in chipboard, I think, as a physical signal blocker.  This obviously wouldn't have the problems of affecting the surrounding area that electronic jammers do.  But installing it in the older theatres could be cost prohibitive.

As for NEEDING to be contacted instantly - if you are so dependant on being immediately contactable, maybe that's a fundamental incompatability with being in a theatre audience.  In buying a theatre ticket you're committing to sit quietly and watch the show, without taking phone calls.  If you can't do that, then you shouldn't be there.  There is actually nothing so important it can't wait an hour - and if you're expecting your wife to go into labour, or some such occasion, then don't go out to the theatre at that time!

[Paul]

As for NEEDING to be contacted instantly - if you are so dependant on being immediately contactable, maybe that's a fundamental incompatability with being in a theatre audience. ..... There is actually nothing so important it can't wait an hour

I disagree. For the same reason as when I posted this on the old board:-

I have to carry a pager due to my position as an officer within one of the UKs Voluntary Aid organisations. In the event of a major incident in London/South-East, I would be paged and have to drop what I was doing instantly and assist with the co-ordination of any Ambulance/Emergency Aid response to the incident. Blocking phone signals in a theatre would cut me off from the emergency-notification system... which would in effect mean I either have to resign from my role, or stop going to see shows regularly (which is a main hobby of mine).

[coated peanuts]

I have to carry a pager due to my position as an officer within one of the UKs Voluntary Aid organisations.

Are you telling me the safety of the south east depends on the availability of one person? What happens when you are sick? Either way, it wouldn't be impossible introduce a scheme for people on call which would involve having your page forwarded to a landline in the theatre. Since you might have to leave at any given second, I assume you sit in aisle seats at the back of the auditorium anyway, so it wouldn't be difficult for a member of staff to alert you.

There is of course a slightly less complicated solution: Have a day per week where signals are not blocked within theatres so all people who need to be available 24/7 have the opportunity to see a play without disturbing other theatre-goers.

[dan]

As a result of this thread I now realise that I am not allowed an opinion on over zealous policies in theatres, to be concerned for my kids nor trusted to use my mobile phone in a responsible way that won't affect others. Who knew that a theatre message board could be so educational. It does seem to be a subject that brings out the prissy in people!

I must be a really bad person.

[Ian]

It does seem to be a subject that brings out the prissy in people!

I must be a really bad person.

Well since you mention it - I  have to agree with you. In this thread you are a bad person.

No-one has said that you are not allowed an opinion, YOU are just getting the hump because most people disagree with your reasons for using a mobile in a theatre (on silent or not). And as for being prissy - take a look at some of your own comments. I know this will depend on your viewpoint on this subject, but you are, in this forum, in a minority on the use of a mobile in the theatre and are getting petty in your defence of the practice.

[Paul]

Are you telling me the safety of the south east depends on the availability of one person? What happens when you are sick? Either way, it wouldn't be impossible introduce a scheme for people on call which would involve having your page forwarded to a landline in the theatre. Since you might have to leave at any given second, I assume you sit in aisle seats at the back of the auditorium anyway, so it wouldn't be difficult for a member of staff to alert you.

There is of course a slightly less complicated solution: Have a day per week where signals are not blocked within theatres so all people who need to be available 24/7 have the opportunity to see a play without disturbing other theatre-goers.

No I'm not saying it depends on me at all - just that I need to have my pager on and within signal range wherever possible. It is one thing to pass my responsibilities onto someone for a week or so a year due to holidays etc, but it would be a totally different thing to have to pass the pager on to someone else / redirect calls 2-3 times a week when I'm out at the theatre.

Realistically, I'm not very likely at all to actually get a call on it - it's a fairly rare occurance, so it would be stupid to have to re-arrange my life (including theatre trips) due to it. In 50-odd shows seen, I have only once been paged while at one. The whole point of the pager system is that it is small and discreet for the people carrying them. I don't sit in specific seats or anything like then when I see a show. Plus I think it would a lot more of a "kerfuffle" for a member of staff to have to come and find me, explain the problem, and for me to leave an auditorium, than for me to receive a pager message (1 second vibrate setting, so no noise there) and leave.

The issue isn't that signals should be blocked, more that people should be responsible & trustworthy enough not to disturb the people around them! Rather than affect the great majority of 'innocent' audience members, why not just warn/eject the minority - the people who insist on making/receiving calls, talking all through a performance, kneeing people in the back, kicking chairs, arriving late, going to the toilet every 5 mins....