New invention to improve train phone reception

What seemed like a good idea at the time is now a major problem for phone users.

Many modern windows, especially those on a train, have an ultra-thin layer of metal. It helps with thermal insulation – but it also blocks radio signals. 

A start up from the EPFL university in Lausanne will fix the problem – without the expense of changing the window.  

A box containing a laser is fitted to the window and the light beam will cut a series of grooves in the thin metal – allowing the radio waves to pass through.

It’s certainly cheaper than changing the windows – and also more efficient than using a relay transmitter, which are in use in some trains. 

The plan is to treat all the windows on one train  -  and then monitor the results. 

More from Bitesize News

  • First new AVS payment due

    Swiss pensioners will receive their first 13th AVS payment in December, averaging around CHF 1,580

  • Contraception free or not?

    Geneva voters will decide whether to make contraception free, in what the canton says is a choice between public health and personal responsibility

  • Vignette patrols stepped up

    Nearly 200 drivers have been caught crossing into Switzerland without a valid motorway vignette in recent border checks near Basel

  • Fuel prices close to record high

    Swiss fuel prices are closing in on the 2022 record, with the TCS reporting petrol at CHF 2.05 a litre and diesel at CHF 2.30

  • Job losses add up

    Geneva's international organisations have shed more than 2,800 jobs since Donald Trump returned to the White House

  • Mountain attraction record broken

    Vaud's Glacier 3000 has broken its all-time attendance record before its financial year even closes, with roughly 265,000 visitors expected — up two-thirds in a decade

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play