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cell phone
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Cell phone in use, c. 2006.
Cell phone in use, c. 2006. Cell phones are now more commonly referred to as smartphones, as most models offer Internet connectivity.

cell phone

communications
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Also known as: cellular phone, cellular telephone, mobile cellular phone, mobile phone
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cellular telephone
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cell phone, wireless telephone that permits telecommunication within a defined area that may include hundreds of square miles, using radio waves in the 800–900 megahertz (MHz) band. To implement a cell-phone system, a geographic area is broken into smaller areas, or cells, usually mapped as uniform hexagrams but in fact overlapping and irregularly shaped. Each cell is equipped with a low-powered radio transmitter and receiver that permit propagation of signals between cell-phone users. See also mobile telephone and smartphone.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Tara Ramanathan.