While soldiers have been using their cell phones for years, sailors have not been able to do likewise. Standard cell phones have serious performance problems because of the all metal structure of ships, the numerous electronic equipment emitting signals and the fact that ships are often, well, out to sea. The sailors know what they are missing. When in port with much of the ships electronics gear shut down, they can use their cell phones in many  parts of the ship and it makes life a lot easier. To solve the seagoing cell  phone problems the navy is testing a system using off the shelf cell phones and  the ships Internet equipment. The navy has actually been working on this system  for some twenty years, but cell phone and Internet technology developed rapidly  and solved many of the technical problems the navy had been having.