Cellular power levels

Each base station has its own coverage area. In a cellular phone network, each base station need to maintain the maximum required transmit RF power level in order to maintain stable and reliable communication links to mobile units.

            The FCC permits an effective radiated power (ERP) of up to 500 watts per channel (depending on the tower height), the majority of cellular base stations in urban and suburban areas operate at an ERP of 100 watts per channel or less. The mobile stations operate at an ERP of 3W. The maximum transmitted RF power for microcell is 10W. For macrocell, it could be either 20W or 40W depending upon the network specification. In urban areas, an ERP of 10 watts per channel or less is commonly used.

          Vehicle-mounted antennas used for cellular communications normally operate at a power level of 3 watts or less. These cellular antennas are typically mounted on the roof, on the trunk, or on the rear window of a car or truck.

The radio frequency (R.F) sources in India are :

S.No.	R.F Source	Operating Frequency	Transmission Power	Numbers
1	AM/FM Tower	540 KHz-108 MHz	1 KW-300 KW	380
2	TV Tower	48 MHz-814 MHz	10–500 Watt	1201
3	Wi-Fi	2.4 – 2.5 GHz	10-100 mW	--
4	Cell Towers	800, 900 , 1800, 2450 MHz	20 W	5.4 Lacs
5	Mobile Phones	GSM-1800/CDMA GSM-900	1 W 2 W	700+ Million