Why does a cell tower need to be massive to transmit data to a smartphone but the phone’s extremely small antenna can transmit data back over the same distance?

Question

Why does a cell tower need to be massive to transmit data to a smartphone but the phone’s extremely small antenna can transmit data back over the same distance?

In: 52

Answer 1

The cell tower’s massive equipment can pick up even weak signal, while the phone’s small antenna needs to get a fairly strong signal to receive it reliably.