COW
Cell On Wheels
A COW is a portable cellular base station used to provide temporary wireless network coverage and/or capacity.
COWs are most often used to add temporary additional network capacity in situations where an unusually large number of people will converge on one area for a major event that would otherwise overwhelm the permanent network in that area.
COWs can also be used to create temporary coverage where there is none, such as in disaster areas where the permanent base stations have been damaged.
COWs vary in size from a very large truck to small van. A small COW is sometimes referred to as a COLT (Cell On Light Truck).
See: Base Station
Last updated Sep 18, 2015 by Rich Brome
Editor in Chief Rich became fascinated with cell phones in 1999, creating mobile web sites for phones with tiny black-and-white displays and obsessing over new phone models. Realizing a need for better info about phones, he started Phone Scoop in 2001, and has been helming the site ever since. Rich has spent two decades researching and covering every detail of the phone industry, traveling the world to tour factories, interview CEOs, and get every last spec and photo Phone Scoop readers have come to expect. As an industry veteran, Rich is a respected voice on phone technology of the past, present, and future.
