Chewythe Wookie,
Sorry, but 3 miles is a perfectly reasonable range for a phone to talk to a base station.
Since my earlier post (3 years ago) I think most people have realised just through the accidental or disobedient use of mobiles that in fact they aren't going to drop planes from the skies. It is often said that the average transatlantic flight carries 10 mobiles that aren't switched off.
AA is probably the most liberal that I know now on this: phones off at pushback, and can be used as soon as you leave the runway after landing.
Since AA has the biggest fleet in the world and no problems have been caused it is fair to assume that the only reason all other carriers don't follow suit is just political inertia.
(Or in the case of Australians, the cork up the backside that seems to be a national affliction :-) )