# Why "cell" phones? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2003, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960 "2003-06-15T04:31:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960/21 "2003-06-15T16:59:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ftg \* > \*\*Note that digital (PCS) and analog mobile phones are “cell phones”. But for advertising to Joe Sixpack, wireless companies refer to analog phones as “cell phones” and digital, etc. for the newer ones. It’s really funny to see a commercial where they make fun of the noisy, unreliable old cell phones while touting their new (but still cellular) phones. \*\* Strictly speaking, that’s not entirely true. In a true cellular system, you are connected to only one antenna at a time, and are handed off to the next nearest one when you move through cells. In a PCS system, you are connected simultaneously to at least 2 antennas, and handed off to at least one additional one as you move through their coverage area. PCS is not called cellular to differentiate it based upon this. Since you are connected to multiple antennas there aren’t any discrete cells, hence the terminology. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960/22 "2003-06-15T20:49:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Musicat \* > In high-traffic areas that are geographically challenged, like Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, they even have micro-cells, where the coverage may be only a thousand feet or so. And then there’s the idea of pico-cells, which are intended to cover only a building or so. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2003, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960/23 "2003-06-15T21:15:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > \*\*A colleague who works in the US tells me that USians are starting to call them mobile phones rather than cellphones these days. Is this true? \*\* Not that I’ve heard – people still call them cell phones. And I think it’s unlikely to change to “mobile”, since there is a theory in linguistics that words used frequently tend to become shorter. (Just like you used phones rather than telephones.) ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960/24 "2003-06-16T03:34:48Z")
I’ve observed that “mobile” is gaining momentum, taking share away from “cell.” By the way, as soon as cellular service became common in the late 1980s, they were called “cellular phones.” The shortened version “cell phone” is fairly new. ---
**Author:** ![easy\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb8c5e/32.png) [@easy\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/easy_e)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960/25 "2003-06-16T21:21:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > \*\*Strictly speaking, that’s not entirely true. In a true cellular system, you are connected to only one antenna at a time, and are handed off to the next nearest one when you move through cells. In a PCS system, you are connected simultaneously to at least 2 antennas, and handed off to at least one additional one as you move through their coverage area. PCS is not called cellular to differentiate it based upon this. Since you are connected to multiple antennas there aren’t any discrete cells, hence the terminology. \*\* If you are only connected to one antenna, will PCS service work? I ask this because I know several people who cannot get a reliable Sprint connection in some areas, while people with other providers have no problem. I know that if there’s not a tower in you’re area, you’re SOL as far as getting a signal goes. But could the 2-antenna requirement account for some of my PCS difficulties? I can be in areas that are _supposed_ to be covered my Sprint, but are pretty spotty. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2003, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960/26 "2003-06-16T21:45:57Z")
Yes, it will work, it just won’t work well. I probably should have said the system _tries_ to connect you to multiple antennas. It doesn’t always succeed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cell-phones/181960.md?page=1)