cellularity.html - adjective (Science and Technology) Being part of a mobile radio-telephone system in which the area served is divided into small sections, each with its own short-range transmitter/receiver; cellular telephone, a hand-held mobile radio telephone for use in this kind of system. Etymology: This kind of radio-telephone system is termed cellular from the small sections, called cells, into
which the operating area is divided. The same frequencies can be used simultaneously in the different cells, giving greater capacity to the
system as a whole. History and
Usage : This kind of mobile telephone became available in the late seventies and was considerably more successful than the more limited non-cellular radio telephone. By the mid eighties cellular
was often abbreviated to cell-, as in cellphone for cellular telephone and Cellnet, the trade mark of the cellular network operated
by British Telecom in the
UK (and also of a similar service in the US), sometimes also used to mean a cellphone. It will soon be possible to use either of the two cellular networks started this year off almost the entire south coast. The Times 15 Feb. 1985, p.
37 The mobile phone is the perfect symbol, if not of having arrived, then at least of having the car pointed in the right direction. It
would no doubt come as a surprise to most cellphone users that their conversations are in the public domain, as
it were,
available to anyone with a scanning receiver, a little
time to kill, and a healthy
disregard for personal
privacy . Fortunately for cellphone users, it's very difficult for us eavesdroppers to 'lock in' on one
conversation for more than a few minutes. Guardian 14 July 1989, p. 7
