cellphone (cellular reception) signal booster?

[dta]

Someone asked me if there's a device that can amplify reception of cellphone signals? (amplifier-booster?)
That person mention he lives in the province where the cellphone signal is quite weak and intermittent, thus he's looking for a device that can make the reception of the cellular signals so that his cellphone can receive at hopefully better quality signals?
 
Is there such a device? What are they called? Where are they available and around how much would they cost?

[uvax]

Yes there is. Commonly called as cellular repeater or cellular signal booster. I remember CDRKing (!) offering such a product but I don't see it anymore in their catalog. I still see several offered at sulit.com. They are pricey. The setup will mount a directional antenna on the roof and the amplifier will re-transmit the signal to an indoor antenna.

[Hajile]

I actually considered getting a repeater but they're incredibly expensive. I think you're supposed to use them on malls or buildings rather than residential homes.

[dta]

Thanks for the replies..  I did a quick search in Sulit and found this (there may be more, but these are the ones that came near on top of the Sulit search):

"SIGNAL BOOSTER Repeater for Mobile phone cellphone GLOBE & SMART" ~ Php 5.5k-16.5k +
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/6843027/

and there's a very-low-cost alternative:
Cellphone Wifi Signal Booster and Battery Life Enhancer  ~ Php 250
http://www.sulit.com.ph/index.php/view+classifieds/id/6495694/

The pricier one mounts on a roof or similar part of the house,
while the cheaper device seems to be sticked on the cellphone itself (undoubtedly, this will be weaker than the pricey alternative -- but if it helps a little, then maybe it could still be worth it).

Any comments on whether the 2nd item listed above might actually work? (so far, no feedbacks yet for that ad)

[WallyWest]

Signal boosters are no longer as expensive as they used to be.Planning to get one of these as phone signal reception in our house is really crappy. Need to get out of the house just to receive OTPs from banking and online shops.

[calvin]

Signal boosters are no longer as expensive as they used to be.Planning to get one of these as phone signal reception in our house is really crappy. Need to get out of the house just to receive OTPs from banking and online shops.

note that most cellphone boosters are illegal...
the NTC only allows certain models to be used locally.