Electronic gadgets and Electromagnetic Waves...

Effects of EM Waves on Electronic Gadgets
Q1: I found that EM Waves affect the life and working of Electronic-Electrical Appliances. Since Mobile Telephone Microwaves are found everywhere, will it affect the appliance? My Home is situated very near to a Mobile Tower, will it affect the working of any appliances?What EM waves affect them?

Q2: I hear a noise from my comp speaker, and screen showing disturbed display, when i receive a phone call to my mobile, what is this effect called? Why does it happen? Does it have any effects on lifespan of computer?

not only being a disturbance to computers and electronic equipment, they affect health adversely. Please refer the attached quote for more information.

health hazards arising due to radio frequency radiation from
mobile towers/ antenna

milind bembalkar & manoj s. Londhe

at the outset, we say that we are not opposing the mobile phone technology as such. However while accepting the technology, the government, mobile service companies and citizens must know the health hazards caused if proper “safety precautions” are not taken. And arrive at a consensus about location, height, radiation levels of mobile tower/ antennae. Foolproof laws must emerge to govern the installation of mobile base stations, in order to avoid health hazards & safety hazards to the citizens of india.
after going through many scientific papers & on visiting internet sites of hospitals, following conclusions can be drawn.
“fachkrankenhaus nordfriesland”; the german hospital dealing with health problem arising form electro-magnetic fields has come out with its research findings (on their website portail d'informations ce site est en vente!) about e-smog. It is discovered that due to e-smog, there is massive reduction in “melatonin hormonal levels. Melatonin is an important hormone required for sound sleep & stable immune system. Further it exercises a protective function against neuro – generative diseases like alzheimer’s & parkinson’s diseases & multiple sclerosis. It lowers blood pressure & cholesterol.
Massive reduction in melatonin levels of @ 30 % are observed in case studies.

Health effects as per german building biologists are mainly hormonal disturbances – mainly melatonin. Sleep disturbances, fatigue, depressive moods.

dr vini khurana, australian neurosurgeon of indian origin says, cell phones are today, what tobacco and asbestos companies were 40 yrs ago. Cell phones cause more cancer than smoking & asbestos.

dr. Kohli of punjab university, exposed 50 eggs to emr for 5 minutes to 30 minutes. All 50 embryos were damaged. It was almost like being micro waved.

dr. Carlo, epidemiologist, was initially hired by mobile companies to hide facts. But on learning the dangerous health hazards he has come out with research papers on this subject. He was physically assaulted. His house was burnt down.

dr. Neil cherry, biophysicist from lincoln university of new zealand, opined at scientific workshop on biological & health effects of rf – emf held in vienna in 1999, “every night, as we go to sleep, our melatonin level rise. Melatonin goes through our blood & clears our cells up, that is to say, scavenges free radicals, which are highly damaging chemicals. If free radicals persist for long, they damage the dna, cause damaged cells & are shown to be carcinogenic. Melatonin is one of those agents, that cleans us up every night to reduce the possibility that cells will become carcinogenic. Power lines, radio, tv & cell phone towers must be kept away from houses, hospitals, schools.

more & more scientists in europe already believe in link between emr & cancers ( in patients closer to masts).

electro-magnetic spectrum is made up of millions of frequencies & frequency bands. Wireless products employ rf, micro-wave & extremely low frequencies.

studies demonstrate how utilizing this band of frequencies can disturb various mind & body connection.

we are covering our planet with haze of electro-smog from a host of wire-less radiation devices, which is showing its effect not only on human population but plants, animals & climate. We are engaging into a world were biology & physics are co-dependent/ interdependent.

our brain is tuned to natural background frequencies which exist between earth’s surface & ionosphere. These frequencies are called schumann resonance frequencies (sr) from 0 – 50 hz. The brain cells reside in elf frequency band. Daily cycles & emotional functions of our lives are guided by sr frequencies. Everything from our sleep, wake up cycles to creative cognitive tasks, relaxation to states of anxiety are activated by this band of frequencies.
recently a few scientists have observed that man kind has altered these frequencies. Once our strongest and base frequency was 7.8 hz, inside alpha band. It is now rising to 11 hz, close to beta band.
This is important, because 7.8 hz is the centre of brain’s alpha wave activity ( 7 to 12 hz), where mind generates its capacity of creativity, mental co-ordination, calmness, inner awareness & learning.
If the base of sr continues to rise, it will cross in beta activity. This level is associated with alertness & anxiousness. But at higher levels, it leads to lack of focused attention, concentration.

Scientists are now zeroing on how man made rf/ microwave frequency signal can interfere with the body. The process is called frequency coupling/ resonance. The theory concludes, “when a material (the body) is activated by interaction with another source of energy (rf/mw) at same resonant frequency; a more powerful & intensive response occurs. If frequency is pulse modulated; a significant changes can be created in the codes of dnas of human body. Scientists have observed how em-rf radiation alter biological processes. Scientists have shown, that wireless radiation affects everything from cellular functions to general well being to more end point diseases.

em – rf radiations cause increase in micronuclei levels & reduced melatonin levels.
micronuclei are indicators of compromised immune factors & precursors to cancer.
Rf radiation impacts & penetrates cellular growth & division processes, which could ultimately be linked with more acute & chronic diseases such as dna damage, increased micronuclei formation, activation of stress proteins etc.

Em-rf frequencies break in the blood – brain barrier, a barrier which keeps toxins from entering the brain. Breaking blood – brain barrier contributes to increase in development of alzheimer, parkinson & other neurological diseases; reduced ***** count.

maximum fields occur between 30 – 100 meters from the mast.
“lund university”, sweden, has been doing research on connection between alzheimer’s disease & mobile phones/ masts. They found out positive link. (due to reduction in melatonin & rise in micronuclei levels).

Cancer throughout the world is becoming more common, largely due to greater exposure to radiation. The best action a person can take at present level of scientific & medical knowledge is to minimize exposure to all emf fields.
as per resolution passed in “international cell tower conference” 2000 held in salzburg, austria, in which over 100 physicians & 33 other delegates took part, “a cell tower should be situated no closer than 1500 ft (457 mtrs) to homes”. They went a step ahead & declared cell phone towers as “public health emergency”.

International legal scenario:

precautionary principle is increasingly recognized by law courts & governments worldwide. This safeguard is a moral & political principle which states that, “ if an action or policy ‘might’ cause severe irreversible harm ( such as brain tumor, breast cancer, alzheimer’s, parkinson’s disease) to the public; in the absence of a scientific consensus that would ensue; the burden of proof falls on those who would advocate taking the action”. This particular principle was adopted by european union; which states, “preventive action should be taken & damage should as a priority, be rectified at the source & that the ‘polluter’ should pay”.

versailles appeal court, in france, ordered bouygues telecom, to dismantle its phone mast from a building roof top, on early morning of 6th march 2009 on the basis of “precautionary principle”, because there was insufficient proof that cell phones are harmless.

obama administration is now exploring cell tower health risks. On 29.01.09, prez obama asked us cancer panel to investigate possible links between electro magnetic radiations (emr) & rise in number of cancer patients.

what the prevalent law in india says about this issue?
the telecom commission of india, has approved the adoption of “international commission recommendations on non – ionizing radiation protection” (icnirp) guidelines, recommended by telecommunications engineering centre (tec), in the telecommunication sector in india regarding basic restriction & response levels for limiting electromagnetic field exposure.

Frequency range
e- field strength (volt/meter)
h – field meter strength (amp/meter)
power density (watt/m2)
400 mhz to
2000 mhz
1.375 f1/2
0.0037 f1/2
f/200
2 ghz to
300 mhz
61
0.16
10

on the instructions of honorable high court of mumbai, (writ petition no. 2112, year 2004, mr. Farookh contractor vs. Government of india), “health & welfare ministry” of central government of india, formed a committee under chairmanship of dr. N. K. Ganguly, dg, icmr, in march 2006. They were asked to investigate and suggest about viable solutions w.r.t:
a) whether it is advisable to frame and/ or adopt the existing international guidelines pertaining to installation of mobile base stations by mobile service providers, so as to avoid any potential risk to health & safety to public at large.
B) explore the possibility for studying the course of action & framing a research project.

The committee held meeting on 29th may 2006 at i.c.m.r. Headquarters, new delhi; and made following observations: Height of mobile base station antenna is nominally 36 metres, hence there is no possibility of any health effect on people moving on the road. The effect of radio waves depends upon the distance from the base stations since the antennae are directed horizontally with a 5 degree downward tilt. The strength of radio frequency fields in front of the antennae varies with distance. Persons standing directly in front of antennae in these high density zones will get higher exposures. Further the committee said, a precautionary approach should be adopted till further research data is available. It will not be amiss to adopt the icnirp guidelines for limiting emf exposure. Appropriate funds may be made available to institutes conducting surveys to find enough evidence, data generated through appropriate epidemiological studies. In indian cities, like delhi, mumbai, banglore, hyderabad, installed towers are of max 50 feet height on high rise residential buildings. When enquired about the height of mobile tower, the mobile companies say, dr. N. K. Ganguly said 36 mtrs from ground. People living on top floors of these buildings have to suffer deadly diseases because of this nonsensical argument.

legalities & technicalities of mobile tower:
as per icnirp “international commission recommendations on non – ionizing radiation protection”, guidelines, which are followed in india, mobile antenna should not emit more than 600 mw/m2 radiations. However in india, mobile antenna having capacity of 7260 mw/m2 radiation are installed. But measurement of radiation is to be done by the service providers. Hence in absence of a third party inspection w.r.t. Radiation levels, citizens are suffering from illnesses of very serious nature.
As per government of maharashtra and town planning department of mumbai municipal corporation regulation of november 2007, care has to be taken such that, there is no risk of any kind, in radius of 1.5 times the height of the tower. If as per ganguly commission’s observation, height of tower is considered as 36 meters, then care must be taken in such a way that, citizens in a radius of 54 meters do not face risk of any kind. In other words, “no objection certificate” from all citizens staying within radius of 54 meters from the tower should be obtained and responsibility of the health of citizens in 54 meters radius should be owned by the mobile tower company. In other words, precautionary principle should be followed.
Citizens should start questioning the mobile companies on these guidelines.
Petitioners before kerala high court argued that telecom towers could cause fatal diseases such as cancer & embryo disruption, pointing out to several case studies of people living near tower.
Senior advocate mr. P. N. Rao says, cell companies will be failing in their duty, if they do not tell the general public about ill effects of setting up towers. Every citizen has a right to life & he ought to know what is right & what is wrong for him.
Central government of india is looking into this matter & has constituted a panel to study the problem & report it. Panel is expected to brief the government of the ill effects of setting up a tower & also make recommendations on how to ensure health of the people. Government will initiate steps based on recommendations made by the panel.
Case studies: Abroad

in berkeley house, staple hill, bristol, uk, where orange mobile mast was erected on roof of 5 story bldg; five out of eight flats on top floor have been affected – 3 have died.
top floor – 5th floor:-
1. Llewellin – male –(63) died of bowel cancer.
2. Barbara wood – female –(70) died of breast cancer.
3. Hazel frape – female –(63) fighting breast cancer.
4. Phyllis smith – female –(89) fighting breast cancer.
Fourth floor
5. Bernice mitchel – female –(69) womb cancer.
In warwickshire, 31 cancer patients were detected on a single street & a quarter of 30 odd staff at a special school, within sight of 90 ft high mast, developed brain tumors since 2000. The masts are being pulled down under growing protests of thousands of people. Top floor residents of melbourne office building were closed down & 100 people were evacuated after 7th worker in 7 years was diagnosed with brain tumor.
Case studies in india:

1. Riddhi park, thakurlee (west)
a. Mrs roopa bhat,
builder had installed mobile tower before the residents had occupied the building. Within 4 months of occupying the top floor flat, mrs roopa bhat started suffering from “brain tumor”. She used to feel fatigued; and also suffered from white rashes on the body.
B. Mrs roopa bhat’s neighbor delivered a baby with cancer of spinal chord name not disclosed at request of the patient’s parents.
C. Another neighbor (name not to disclosed) gave birth to child having “birth defects”; and the child died immediately after birth.
All the residents of the building are now demanding the demolition of the tower. In spite of these demands by residents, builder has installed another “vodaphone” tower. Mrs. Roopa bhat has left her flat in thakurlee and she is now staying in goregaon and spent @ rs. 10 lakhs for treatment on brain tumor. She has to pay for additional rental money. However her health is now improving.

2. Mr. Bhagwant deshpande, of north kasba peth, deshpande galli, solapur; has come out with an interesting statistics about people staying in 300 ft radius of “vodaphone” & “airtel” mobile towers. He says there have been 9 deaths in last four years, since the installation of these towers. Details of the dead persons are given below:

sr no
name
year of death
cause of death
age at the time of death
1
mrs. Radhabai sathe
2005
breast cancer
66
2
mrs. Deshpande
2006
cancer of oesophagus
48
3
mrs shubhangee deshpande
2007
cancer of rectum
66
4
mr. Pujaree
2008
cancer
46
5
mrs gawai
2008
breast cancer
52
6
mrs. Shah
2009
cancer
48
7
mr. Vidyadhar dev
2009
cancer of liver
52
8
mrs ransube
2009
cancer of throat
73
9
miss archana malvadkar
2009
cancer of spinal chord
17

3. Mr. Ram pradhan, bhavani socitey, kalwa (w), dist. Thane experiences skin rash & irritation.

4. Sleep disorders, restlessness & fatigue experienced by:

i. Mr. Vishwanath vichare, bamdra (east)
ii. Mr. Vasant kelkar, kalpak society, bandra (w),
iii. Mr. Jagannath sable, vikhroli, (w),
iv. Mr. Narendra bhagwat, gulmohar society, nagpada, thane, teacher by profession.
V. Mr. Sakharam bhila patil, devpur, dhule, a retired teacher has mobile tower in adjoining house. On making complaints to competent authorities, the owner of adjoining house attacked mr. Patil twice.
Vi. Mr. Bhanudas vaiykar, subhash nagar, meethbandar road, thane (e).
Vii. Mr. Antony d’souza, gaurav galaxy, meera road (e),
viii. Mr. Sumeet kale, rana towers, ekdant society, kalwa (w), experiences severe headache.

Sleep disorders in an individual, if observed after installation of mobile tower on his/ her respective building, in fact violate section 21 of “indian constitution”, which guarantees peaceful living & liberty. If one can’t sleep, how his/ her life would be peaceful?

5. Problems due to noise pollution created by 20 kva/ 30 kva generators for the mobile tower:

i. Mr. Vinod jain, bhopal house, sadanad jadhav marg, dadar(e), mumbai 400014, says, mobile tower was installed on top of his building, without any permission. Cooling unit & generator are adjacent to their flat. His wife suffers from heart ailment & was recently operated. Noise pollution has robbed the family of sound sleep.
ii. Mr. Yogesh dapurkar, nagpur – 10, has old parents in house, can’t bear the noise pollution.
Iii. Mrs. Sadhana janaskar, amrut park, kalwa (w), suffers from noise pollution.
Iv. Mr. Mohan dongare, balsunder society, nanpada, thane (w), says tower was erected without any prior permission. He stays out of india for 6 months. But when he is back in india, he has to suffer from noise pollution of the generator set. After seeing gross neglect for common man’s life and safety, he is ashamed that he is an indian,
in absence of electricity supply from mseb/ best/ bses, the mobile tower antenna works on generator. These generators are designed to function in open air & open ground. These generators must have 2 meters free space around them. But nobody bothers. How are these generators placed?:
A. Backside of the building/ parking space/ under some roof.
B. Under the staircase.
C. Mostly adjacent to neighbor’s house. Extremely near to neighbor’s compound wall.
In short, voice must be raised and made to hear by the aggrieved about wrong placement of “generators”, which cause lot of noise pollution and pollution. Complaints should be lodged in nearest police station, pollution control board & inspector electricity board. On receipt of complaint, police visit the sight & measure noise decibel level. If sound intensity is found to be more than 75 db, then the generator is “confiscated” by the police. Chimney of the generator has to be 3 meter above the height of the adjoining buildings. If smoke of generator is polluting the neighbors, the generator can be confiscated.




6. Safety, trai regulations are being grossly violated.
a. Co-author, mr. Manoj londhe, along with aged parents, wife & son stays on 7th (top) floor, clement court, gokhale road, dadar(w), mumbai 28. Working committee of his building, on the basis of majority, gave a go ahead for the erection of mobile tower. Mr. Manoj had appraised the members of possible health hazards in various society meetings to no avail. The company, without taking mandatory permissions from competent municipal authorities or pollution control board downloaded the material of construction for the mobile tower in society premises to which mr. Manoj objected. Apart from health hazards arising from mobile antenna, he has raised very important issues.
I. Approach road to his building is very narrow. Fire brigade cannot approach the building in case of fire. Due to installation of mobile antenna & allied electrical equipment, fire hazards would definitely increase.
Ii. As per icnirp regulations, mobile antennae should be kept at least 100 mtrs away from schools & hospitals. Jain hospital and modern english school are less than 100 mtrs distance from clement court.

B. Role of power suppliers to the mobile towers has always been dubious. Without permission from competent municipal authorities, how can they supply electricity to these towers? Pimpri chinchwad municipal corporation says there are 400 illegal towers in pimpri chinchwad. In new mumbai there are 322 illegal mobile towers. How these illegal towers get electrical power supply? Power supply to illegal towers must be “cut off”, immediately.

Statistics:
increase in childhood leukemia death has increased 274 fold.
In us, brain cancer has increased by 25% since 1975.
Switzerland adopts strict limits for cell towers ordinance on non-ionising radiation protection. Mobile
phone towers exposure limits: At 900 mhz (frequency) – 4.0 v/m or 4.2 microwatt/ cm2.
In italy – 10 microwatt/cm2.
In russia at 900 mhz - 3.0 v/m or 2.4 microwatt/ cm2.
What is required to be done ?

Health and safety conscious citizens, various human rights associations should unite, and lodge a
“public interest litigation” in honorable high court and supreme court. Pil should request
the honorable court, to instruct the government of india to formulate concrete laws in respect of
mobile antennae/ towers/ base stations on following lines:
What all permissions need to be taken before installation of mobile tower? From which departments?
We feel that, apart from town planning department, fire brigade, local municipal ward, pollution control
board should play decisive role.
What should be the safe distance of mobile antennae from human inhabitation and not from road
(as shrewdly claimed by the mobile companies)?
What should be distance between two antennae?
How many antennae should be installed on one tower?
Who should measure radiation emitted from mobile tower antennae, and confirm that the radiations are within icnirp limits? “because at present, mobile companies are supposed to self certify”, which is a “big joke”. A thief will never say he has stolen something. A murderer will never say he has murdered somebody.
Safety must be of paramount importance all the time. Mobile towers must not be allowed in small/ crowded lanes where fire brigade engines can’t approach.
A separate cell should be formulated to issue permits (after considering health and safety aspects), monitor radiation levels and listen to the grievances of aggrieved citizens.
Where should the mobile towers be located?
Co-author mr. Manoj londhe had in fact suggested to honorable municipal commissioner of mumbai about location of mobile towers. His suggestions are as under:
Mobile towers must not be allowed on top of hospitals, schools, residential and office buildings.
As far as mumbai was concerned, mobile towers could be installed on sea beaches, hill tops, railway tracks/ roads.
Height of these towers should be 100 mtrs & new constructions should not be allowed near such towers.
Mobile towers come with electrical equipments and it adds to safety hazards. Hence these towers should be located in such a way, that fire engines can easily approach these towers.


Milind bembalkar manoj s. Londhe
9422656058 9969220202
bemsons@yahoo.com mslondhe@rediffmail.com

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Well, i knew they were harmful. Thats why i dont have a mobile of my own. Nice article huh!, whats the answer for my questions?

ElectroEnthusiast said:

I hear a noise from my comp speaker, and screen showing disturbed display, when i receive a phone call to my mobile, what is this effect called?

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It's called "radio frequency interference", abbreviated to r.f.i.

Why does it happen?

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It happens because the equipment which experiences interference is inadequately screened and/or filtered.

Does it have any effects on lifespan of computer?

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No.

buildings contain considerable amount of metal inside them. so, some amount of electromagnetic shielding will be there and the transmitters too, they can't waste too much power and hence they operate at barely sufficient power to sustain mobile phone operation. In one particular kind of zoning, which is called umbrella cell, a considerably high power transmitter is used. that too, only in places with a highly mobile population, to reduce the number of hand-offs required.

ninju said:

buildings contain considerable amount of metal inside them. so, some amount of electromagnetic shielding will be there and the transmitters too, they can't waste too much power and hence they operate at barely sufficient power to sustain mobile phone operation. In one particular kind of zoning, which is called umbrella cell, a considerably high power transmitter is used. that too, only in places with a highly mobile population, to reduce the number of hand-offs required.

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So what are you trying to say? What is "Umbrella Cell" BTW? Why does it interfere only when i receivea call< why not always?
Can anyone explain this?

Narrowband interference usually arises from intentional transmissions such as radio and TV stations, pager transmitters, cell phones, etc. Broadband interference usually comes from incidental radio frequency emitters. These include electric power transmission lines, electric motors, thermostats, bug zappers, etc. Anywhere electrical power is being turned off and on rapidly is a potential source. The spectra of these sources generally resemble that of synchrotron sources, stronger at low frequencies and diminishing at higher frequencies, though this noise is often modulated, or varied, by the creating device in some way. Included in this category are computers and other digital equipment as well as televisions. The rich harmonic content of these devices means that they can interfere over a very broad spectrum. Characteristic of broadband RFI is an inability to filter it effectively once it has entered the receiver chain.

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Syncopator said:

It's called "radio frequency interference", abbreviated to r.f.i.


It happens because the equipment which experiences interference is inadequately screened and/or filtered.


No.

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hi Synopator,
Can you please clarify me, 'How Electromagnetic Interference cause disturbance?'

one of the properties of metal is that they reflect electromagnetic radiation. So, they will reflect the incoming radiation. The incoming radiation, as told in my previous post will be quite less because, power at a distance 't' metres away from a transmitter, transmitting at a power of 'Pt' will have a power proportional to Pt/ (t^2), it will be much less tan this considering the real case. So, the power will be negligible and the metals present will also shield quite well. So, it wouldn't adversely affect electric/ electronic equipment. You mentioned that you live near a mobile tower. You have no reason to worry if you live in a concrete house. Don't know what'll happen to people living in wooden houses, as is the case of many in US/ Europe.

When you receive a call, a complicated protocol occurs. There are many channels associated with a phone call. Its hard to trust wikipedia but this is fairly accurate. Please see this: Um interface - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, the base station conveys to your phone that your phone is about to receive a call using one of these channels. And since there are many users, Frequency is re used. For example, you might be using f1 t one point of time and f2 at another point of time and one of these might cause rfi and the other might not. Thats why it doesn't occur all the time.

Regarding umbrella cells, Mobile phone providers don't have he freedom to operate at all frequencies. They will be allotted only a very small part of the spectrum and to accomodate many users in it, they are forced to reuse the spectrum at different locations. So, they have to plan taking various factors in consideration regarding locating the mobile phone towers. When you move from the control of one mobile phone tower to another base station transceiver, a procedure called 'hand-off' occurs. When you move too fast, example, while travelling in a vehicle, you will be handed off quite fast across several base station transceivers. To avoid this, they use a big base station transceiver with a lot of power, which is used only for users moving at a very high speed.

ninju said:

one of the properties of metal is that they reflect electromagnetic radiation. So, they will reflect the incoming radiation. The incoming radiation, as told in my .............if you live in a concrete house. Don't know what'll happen to people living in wooden houses, as is the case of many in US/ Europe.

When you receive a call, a com......d one of these might cause rfi and the other might not. Thats why it doesn't occur all the time.

Regarding umbrella cells, Mobile phone providers don't have he freedom to operate at all frequencies. They will be allotted only a very small part of the spectrum and to accomodate many users in it, they are forced to reuse the spectrum at different locations. So, they have to plan taking various factors in consideration regarding locating the mobile phone towers. When you move from the control of one mobile phone tower to another base station transceiver, a procedure called 'hand-off' occurs. When you move too fast, example, while travelling in a vehicle, you will be handed off quite fast across several base station transceivers. To avoid this, they use a big base station transceiver with a lot of power, which is used only for users moving at a very high speed.

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Thanks Ninja, your explanation was good.

When you receive a call, a complicated protocol occurs.

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Are these protocols responsible for disturbance(only these frequencies in mobile comm.)

yeah mostly it would be the reason. I experimented a bit with the speakers on. When i tried sending a message or when call was initiated, there was no problem. When my friend sent a message to my phone and also called me, it was present. So, i'd say its mostly the Standalone Dedicated Control Channel thats causing this. Its just my own inference and may or may not be the truth. Hope some member of this forum working in the field clarifies this.