AMTA Snapshot Edition 55

People driving themselves to distraction with text messages Up to 30% of drivers in north Queensland have admitted to sending or reading a text message while driving, according to a series of media reports this week. The Chief Executive Officer of AMTA, Chris Althaus, said the figure was alarming because research had found that drivers involved in the illegal activity of text messaging could have their eyes off the road for 12 seconds in each 30 second period.

Mobiles are part and parcel of kids’ equipment AMTA has told educational leaders that it is important that teachers, parents and students work together to help ensure that mobile phones are used responsibly by students.

Federal Government won’t introduce content services Bill in current Parliamentary session The Federal Government has delayed the introduction of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Content Services) Bill 2006 following talks with the peak industry association representing book publishers.

Health Minister rejects call for audit of people living and working near base stations Federal Health Minister Tony Abbott has rejected a call by a Labor MP for a nationwide health audit of people living and working near mobile phone base stations.

Vodafone rounds up mobiles to kick off MobileMuster in 2007! From 21 February to 7 March, Vodafone staff Australia wide saddled up and collected old phones, blackberries, batteries and accessories. In only two weeks, they collected 745 phones! During two full weeks, the Muster spirit took over Vodafone, encouraging all their people to round up their old phones, and bring ‘em in!

Scientific expert findings used to allay local concerns Extensive research undertaken by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and other numerous expert health authorities have not found any substantiated scientific evidence of health effects from living and working near mobile phone base stations, AMTA told the Melbourne Weekly this week.

India and China drive growth in mobiles in Asia-Pacific By 2010, Ovum expects the Asia-Pacific region with India and China to host over 2 billion fixed and mobile voice connections, 42% of the global total.