Mobile Phone

A cellular repeater, cell phone repeater, or wireless cellular signal booster, called a bi-directional amplifier (BDA) in the wireless telecommunications industry, is a device used to boost the cell phone reception to the local area by the usage of a reception antenna, a signal amplifier and an internal rebroadcast antenna. These are similar to the cellular broadcast towers used to broadcast by the network providers, but are much smaller, usually intended for use by one building. Modern cellular repeater amplifiers work by rebroadcasting cellular signals inside the building. The systems usually use an external, directional antenna to collect the best cellular signal, which is then transmitted to an amplifier unit which amplifies the signal, and retransmits it locally, providing significantly improved signal strength. The more advanced models often also allow multiple cell phones to use the same repeater at the same time, so are suitable for commercial as well as home use.The market for cellular repeaters is expected to grow rapidly in the US over the coming years. This is due to the combination of the poor network coverage in some areas, and the large scale departure from the land-line system. By 2007 the CTIA (Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association) had predicted that 30% of phone users in the US will be mobile only - more than 60 million lines. This combined with the low population density (compared with Europe and Japan); the fact that only 41% of the US population is urban; the low cell site density; and the fact that the cell network is split into over ten major provider means that many people will have to use some method to improve their home signal.Other advantages of cellular repeaters include an increase in the cell phone’s battery life and a lower level of radiation emitted by the handset - both caused by the lower power required to broadcast the signal to the local bi-directional amplifier, due to its proximity to the phone.