Vatican to cut phone signal during conclave

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican said on Monday it would cut the phone signal within the tiny city state during the conclave to elect a new pope -- but this would not affect St Peter´s Square.

The office of the presidency of the Governorate of the Vatican City State said that “starting from 3:00 pm (1300 GMT) on May 7, all the transmission systems of the telecommunications signal for mobile telephones present in the territory of the Vatican City State... will be deactivated”. “The signal will be restored after the announcement of the election of the supreme pontiff,” it said in a statement.