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Mobile phone networks could soon monitor traffic jams simply by keeping track of motorists’ mobile phones. Even when a cellphone is on standby, it continually sends signals to the nearest base station. As the user moves around, the network’s computer logs its location as it connects to different base stations. The new system, developed by Applied Generics based in Penicuik near Edinburgh, builds up a picture of users’ routes and speed by collating hundreds of thousands of these movements. A program uses this information to detect whether particular roads are heavily congested, and can also detect peaks in the number of calls being made. Trials in…