The basic geographic unit of a cellular system. It derived its name “cell” from the honeycomb pattern of cell site
installations. Cell is the basis for the generic industry term “cellular.” A city or county is divided into smaller cells, each
of which is equipped with a low‐powered radio transmitter/receiver. The cells can vary in size depending on terrain and
capacity demands. By controlling the transmission power, the radio frequencies assigned to one cell can be limited to
the boundaries of that cell. When a cellular phone moves from one cell to another, a computer at the MTSO monitors
the movement and at the proper time transfers or hands‐off the phone call to the new cell and another radio frequency.
The hand‐off is performed so quickly that it is not noticeable to the callers.