Cell phone towers come in many shapes and sizes. Learn how to recognize cell phone towers and how they use their equipment to communicate with your phone.
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Cell phone towers come in many shapes and sizes - such as a tower made to look like a tree.
The base of a cell phone tower.
Multiple locks on a gate around a cell phone tower usually indicate multiple service providers.
The box houses the radio transmitters and receivers that let the tower communicate with the phones.
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The radios connect with the antennae on the tower through a set of thick cables.
The tower and all of the cables and equipment at the base of the tower are heavily grounded. For example, the plate in this shot with the green wires bolting onto it is a solid copper grounding plate.
If your cell phone isn't compatible with the frequencies coming from a tower, it doesn't matter what SIM card you're using.
Gearing up for a 3G world: Phone companies must strengthen their cell phone towers with 3G equipment to accommodate features like video conferencing. To learn more, see How Cell Phones Work.