Can I use $interval in a service? - angularjs

Question

Short version: please reply to the title. Thanks for your help.
Longer version: I started out, as I suppose many n00bs do, with a little code, added some, bit by bit, and found myself with everything in one huge controller.
So, I split my functionality and had a bunch of smaller controllers.
Then I wanted them to communicate with each other & I discovered services.
Then I read that controllers should be lean & mean and I started to move lots of logic from controllers to services.
Now I find that some old code, which read
$scope.internetConnectionRetryTimer = $interval($scope.attemptInternetConnection, RECONNECT_ATTEMPT_FREQUENCY);
when moved into a service as
this.internetConnectionRetryTimer = $interval(this.attemptInternetConnection, RECONNECT_ATTEMPT_FREQUENCY);
doesn't seem to be running the timer; either that or it is not calling the function upon expiry.
Same question as the short version: can I actually use $interval in a service?
[Update] here's the code:
global vars SERVER is a URL and var RECONNECT_ATTEMPT_FREQUENCY = 5 * 1000; // 5 seconds
this.attemptInternetConnection = function()
{
$interval.cancel(this.internetConnectionRetryTimer);
var params = '?action=test_connection&user=dummy';
$http.get(SERVER + params).
success(function()
{
$interval.cancel(this.internetConnectionRetryTimer);
$rootScope.$broadcast('internetIsAvailable');
})
.error(function(status)
{
this.internetConnectionRetryTimer = $interval(this.attemptInternetConnection, RECONNECT_ATTEMPT_FREQUENCY);
$rootScope.$broadcast('internetIsUnavailable');
});
};// attemptInternetConnection()

Answer 1

No problem with that.
Here's an example:
<div ng-app="myApp" ng-controller="myCtrl">{{Data.Test}}</div>
angular.module('myApp', []).
controller('myCtrl', function ($scope, myService) {
$scope.Data = {Test: 'Test'};
myService.ChangeTest($scope.Data);
}).
service('myService', function ($interval) {
this.ChangeTest = function (data) {
$interval(function () {
if (data.Test == 'Test') data.Test = 'Changed Test';
else data.Test = 'Test';
},500);
}
});
Here's a Fiddle.

Answer 2

That should work fine. Though it depends how the method attemptInternetConnection has been written as the code is not posted. If you are referrencing any variables specific to the service inside attemptInternetConnection, it should be accessed by a referrence to the service object like the sample given below.
Demo: http://plnkr.co/edit/1J0qzw044WRHSFGvZyOD?p=preview
app.service('intervalTest', function($interval) {
var me = this;
me.comments = [{
total: 3,
comment: 'some comment 1'
}, {
total: 10,
comment: 'some other comment'
}];
this.getComments = function() {
return me.comments;
};
$interval(function() {
console.log('interval executed');
me.comments[0].total++;
}, 1000);
});