Macrocells, Microcells and Picocells

Macrocells are used to provide coverage over a wide area and are sited on tall masts, church towers and large buildings. The macrocell base stations emit relatively high power and cover areas of several kilometres in radius. Microcells are used to infill and improve the main network, especially where the volume of calls is high. They are sited in places such as airports, railway stations and shopping malls. The microcell base stations emit less power than those for macrocells and their range is a few hundred metres. Picocell base stations have a lower power output than those of microcells (a few watts) and are generally sited inside buildings.