Cell
The basic geographic unit of a cellular system and the basis for the generic industry term “cellular.” A city or county is divided into small “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 and the radio frequencies assigned from one cell to another, a computer at the Mobile Telephone Switching Office (MTSO) monitors the movement and transfers (or hands off) the phone call to another cell and another radio frequency as needed.