What is a base station?
Radio base stations enable mobile phones to work. Base stations receive signals from mobiles – which are low-powered two-way radios – and transmit them to other mobile or fixed networks. Commonly called ‘masts’, their antennas can be attached to a freestanding mast or existing structures such as roof tops or water towers.
Typically a base station will consist of an equipment cabinet, an antenna that sends and receives radio waves to and from mobile phones and a structure that supports the antenna. The radio waves can carry speech , data, music, pictures etc Each base station provides coverage for a given area. Base stations can be a few hundred metres apart in major cities or several kilometres apart in rural areas. The transmitting power of any particular base station is variable and depends on several factors, including the number of calls and the distance between the base station and the mobile phones making the calls. A base station is not necessarily associated with a mast. A mast is a free-standing structure that supports the antennas. A base station might equally consist of an equipment cabin and an antenna attached to a building or other structure.
