Techs & Trends
Cellular Bands
However, all wireless networks are designed with such factors in mind. PCS networks generally have more towers, spaced closer, to compensate for the reduced "reach". So in the end, there shouldn't be much difference between a properly-designed PCS network and a properly-designed Cellular network.
Another difference is the licensing. For any given geographic area in the U.S., there are six PCS licenses, but only two Cellular licenses.
That's why Sprint and T-Mobile have PCS-only networks - it's simply the only spectrum that was available when they got...
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I'm no engineer, but I always thought that the higher the frequency the better the penetration and the shorter the distance. That's why you can pick up AM radio stations from 4 states away - under the right conditions. They don't penetrate the atmosphere, becuase of their low frequency they bounce off the upper atmosphere.
Verges
Lower frequencies are more likely to "bounce" off of objects such as mountains and buildings rather than higher frequencies. An analogy: cover the tweeter of your home audio system with your hand and most of the high frequency sound will be blocked. Do the same over a mid/woofer driver and there is no difference.