Why a cell phoneYeah a cell phone works but then you have to dial and obtain a channel and pay by the minute. The way CDPD works you log on and the notebook is always online you are charged for the data exchanged rather than the fee for minute. With CDPD you have an extended mobile network. Your workstations are logged on where ever you are. So you have live email and live data exchange with your network. Thats a quick and dirty explanation. But I can tell you after four years experience its great and its the future. The carrier is also very reliable no cross talk cutoffs or interference..love it..hope this helps..