The Black Vault

Star Trek had cell phones and we all know that cell phones are not real.

Star Trek communicators are not cell phones. The difference is largely one of range. A cell phone needs to be a relay tower to extend its range. A Star Trek communicator has a range in excess of 75 miles possibly even 1000 miles without a relay station. Basically its the gap difference is similer to between a child's walkie talkie and a military satellite phone.

Well, the range is simply a matter of transmit/receive power. The old bag phones had 8 watts and had a much longer range. The tiny handhelds today don't have the room for a big enough power source. I think they have like 400 mW. Military has much higher power transmitters and much longer range. The satellite phones can cover the globe as long as you can catch a satellite.