Criterion D: A solution to a problem arising from the issue.

The use of mobile phones and their dangers, in this case directed at trains can be limited. Rules should be made that any passenger in the train even the train engineers should have their mobile phones switched off before boarding the train. Also anyone caught with their mobile phone switched on should be fined since hey are endangering the lives of other people on the train. This can be achievable by placing watches or police men at points before the entry onto the train and also in the train to make sure people don’t switch on their mobiles. This could also increase employment because there are many train stations and many officers would be needed to watch over. Flyers and posters could also be posted in the train station and outside it to tell and also remind people that their action (switching their mobile phone on in the train) could lead to a train crash and therefore death.

Criterion C: The impact of the issue.

Mobile phones have been a source of communication for a little more or about10 years and they have been improved in the way they work, compatibility, design, durability and versatility. As they have improved, so have the frequencies which they use to transfer information. This brings us to the main idea of the topic, Mobile phones and trains. Mobile phones are everywhere nowadays but few people really care or even know what kind of diseases they can cause. Continuous use of mobile phones over a long period of time can cause damage to the ear and it could also affect the brain. It could also cause cancer. Use of mobile phones in public transports has also been a problem. Reports on trains especially have also caused significant problems. Mobile phones increasing frequency which is called “Radio Frequency” nowadays have now become very similar to that of the trains and can interfere with information passed to and from the train. The currently used frequency in some mobile phones which are called 3G, or third generation, is the generic term used for the next generation of mobile communications systems. The systems enhance the services available today and offer multimedia and internet access and the ability to view video footage. These services operate at 2100 MHz. (2.1GHz). This similarity in frequency causes interference in information transmission which can be quite critical in the case of trains because the information might be about where the train should not go to avoid a crash. This effect of mobile phones could also cause the government a lot of money in buying new trains, removing the wreckage of trains which are usually caused by mobile phones and pay the families of the harmed or dead on the crash. A recent train crash which was caused by mobile phones was on September 13, 2008. A Commuter train with 225 aboard slammed into a freight train on a winding route in Chatsworth. More than 135 are injured and 17 dead.
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-traincrash13-2008sep13,0,2874450.story

Criterion B: The IT Background of the Issue.

Presentation of the issue.
Mobile phones have become more and more popular since its creation. Nowadays everyone has a mobile phone. Everywhere you go you see people with mobile phones chatting away. On trains especially, there is an unusual amount of talking. This disease called the mobile phone has even caught people like the drivers of trains and cars, whose little mistake due to absent mindedness can cause the lose of lives and properties. The use and production of mobile phones are improving every year.
Falling mobile phone prices and slowing growth in new handset production is leading to lower revenue in the handset market worldwide in the years ahead, according to iSuppli Corp. Overall market saturation and related moderation in sign-up of new subscribers also is finally taking a toll on device market economics. The average selling price of a mobile phone is now $129, about $36 lower than it was just two years ago. This is shown in the graph below

http://telephonyonline.com/wireless/metrics/mobile_phone_production_013006/

This brings us back to the usage of trains on mobile phones on trains. This can influence the passage of information in the train to the driver. Mobile phones work on almost the same frequency as trains do. Therefore they can intercept each other and cause confusion which might therefore lead to a crash.

Portfolio A: Presentation of the Issue

For many, many years Mobile phones have been a fast way of communication in our world rather than using letters and other emails. Mobile phones have also been a problem because they can cause hazards in someone’s life. Hazards like cancer, diminished hearing and worse crashes are sometimes caused by mobile phones. These crashes especially happen in trains and airplanes and have become a common issue of discussion between aviation industries like Boeing and Airbus. If a mobile phone is switched on or used during flight or train journeys, since they operate at a different frequency than the airplanes or trains, they could intercept, scramble or block the frequency thereby prohibiting communication between the pilots and the airport towers or the train engineer and the station. This might cause crashes which endanger the life and property of other people on the train or airplane. Sometimes the passenger isn’t the only problem, the pilot or train engineer are too. The recent 2008 train crash was caused by the train engineer who was making calls and texting to his friend when the crash happened. Every year there are approximately 3,000 train accidents. Every year approximately 1,000 people will die as a result of train accidents. Almost every 2 weeks a train derailment causes a chemical spill, leading up to evacuations of local residents and most of them are as a result of some electrical malfunction and also of mobile phones.