When a cell's (phone call) volume regularly exceeds its capacity (56 radio channels maximum) and blockage becomes a problem, the cell is split into two or more smaller cells. The radio frequencies are then reassigned, and transmission power is reduced. Cell splitting is a way to increase the capacity of a system. A new cell site must be constructed when a cell is split.

The process of creating more coverage and capacity in a geographic area by having more than one cell cover the same area that a single cell originally did. Each cell then covers a smaller area, with lower power, and thus offers the ability to reuse frequencies more times in a larger geographic coverage area.

Information on cell splitting

The process of converting a single cell to multiple cells by sectorizingg the antennas in the cell site or constructing additional cells within a cell site.