Cell Splitting

The process of creating more coverage and capacity in a wireless system by having more than one cell site cover a particular amount of geography. Each cell site covers a smaller area, with lower power MHz and thus offers the ability to reuse frequencies more times in a larger geographic coverage area, such as a city or MTA. (Cingular)

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. (Motorola)

The more traffic generated, the more base stations will be needed to service the customers. The number of base stations for a simple cellular network is equal to the number of cells. The traffic engineer can achieve the goal of satisfying the increasing population of customers by increasing the number of cells in the area concerned, so this will also increases the number of base stations. This method is called cell splitting (and combined with sectorization) is the only way of providing services to a burgeoning population. This simply works by dividing the cells already present into smaller sizes hence increasing the traffic capacity. Reduction of the cell radius enables the cell to accommodate extra traffic[3]. The cost of equipment can also be cut down by reducing the number of base stations through setting up three neighbouring cells, with the cells serving three 120° sectors with different channel groups. (Wikipedia)