At a certain large tech company, at the peak of GSM data-capable phones (eg Palm Treo, Blackberry) it was accepted practice for everyone turn off data or leave

At a certain large tech company, at the peak of GSM data-capable phones (eg Palm Treo, Blackberry) it was accepted practice for everyone turn off data or leave their phone on a side table due to conference speaker phones on the tables amplifying the data. Also, during this era I was on a flight and the pilot came over the PA right before pushing from the gate saying exasperatedly "Please turn your damn phones off!" (I assumed the same RF noise was leaking into his then-unsheilded headset).