Cell phones (also known as mobile phones) are devices that can make telephone calls over radio waves.

Physical description

Most cell phones are small enough to fit in the palm of the hand. Larger units become unwieldy to use and carry, and smaller units become difficult to handle and are easily lost. Because cell phones often featured multiple uses--including text messages and Internet browsing--the palm-sized units became the standard for phone manufacturers.

Traits and usage

In the years prior to the superflu epidemic, cell phones were ubiquitous in daily life, even during the years of severe economic strife. Radio towers and cellular networks buckled under the increased demand due to frequent public emergencies and rolling brownouts and complete blackouts. Later during the rioting and sweeping fires, radio towers were damaged or destroyed. Satellite phones, which were both very rare and extremely expensive, inexplicably went dead without warning, though it was assumed that the federal government seized those signals for their exclusive use during the disaster.

The networks upon which cellular phone operated were destroyed or permanently disabled. An electronics specialist in the MPD recovered a number of phones and fashioned a push-to-talk (PTT) network that connects the individual units without the need of an intermediary tower. Handsets reside in the Rock, two in Summerland, Ol' Federal, Mansion Inn, Whitefish, in the EMF in the Western Reaches, and in each inventory location. The range is limited to about two miles, which means the phone at the Rock cannot connect directly to the one in Whitefish but must use other phones to pass the signal. Often conversations can be heard faintly on phones not currently in use.

Theoretically, other networks could be established provided compatible phones could be found. There is also the problem of keeping the phones fully charged via solar cells. The quality of the line varies greatly, calls drop frequently, and phones often have to be manually reconnected to the MPD network.

Rarity and value

Cell phones themselves are commonly found discarded in streets and in ruins. Scavengers have little use for them and are virtually worthless, regardless of their condition, for trade.