We can explain this in different way. 1)Ec = Effect energy Io = Total energy and noise Ec/Io = 10.

log[Effect energy / (total energy+noise)] < 10.log(1) = 0 Ec/Io always negative 2) Pilot channel power is always less than the total cell power, the ratio of the Pilot power (Ec) to the total cell power (Io) is always less than one. Thus, when measured in decibels,the value of Ec/Io is always negative. 3)When We Calculate with respect to GSM System. Ec is Energy of BCCH carrier Io is Energy of all carriers + noise in GSM band, all 35 MHz. Io is allways higher as Ec, and Ec/Io is negative when we calculate in log scale.

more negative the Ec/Io, the worse it is, as pilot power grows smaller compared to total cell power + noise.