Mobile Phone Glossary

A cellular base station (tower) designed to serve a very small area, such as part of a building, a street corner, or an airplane cabin.

A picocell is generally smaller than a microcell, although the distinction is not always clear.

Picocells are usally used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with very dense phone usage, such as train stations.