Re: Does cell phone transmission invite lightning strikes?

No, cellular phones do not invite lightning strikes...but they are very useful to call for emergency help if lightning
injures someone with you or causes a fire in the area.

A similar question was asked in the 
Telecom Digest forum sponsored by MIT:
"Someone told me that in a lightning storm, lightning can follow the radio waves given out by your cellular phone.  I 
assume this is because the air is more ionized where the waves are strong.  Is this true?  Is it unsafe to use a 
handheld cellular phone in a lightning storm?"

Here was the answer:
"No, lighting won't "follow the radio waves" back to your phone....I really doubt that 600 mW of omnidirectional RF can 
ionize anything, let alone make a more conductive path between the clouds and ground.  It does make a nice urban 
legend, though.  - Steven King  -- Motorola Cellular Infrastructure Group"

By contrast, stopping in the middle of an electrical storm to answer a cellular phone can increase your risk
of being outside rather than inside, as illustrated in  this article.

Perhaps surprisingly, while using a cellular phone does not increase your risk of being struck by lightning..using
a convention, plane old telephone in your house or office DOES incur some risk of being struck by lightning.
According to the Lightning Safety Group,

"When inside a building AVOID:
Use of the telephone, taking a shower, washing your hands, doing dishes, or any contact with conductive
surfaces with exposure to the outside such as metal door or window frames, electrical wiring, telephone wiring,
cable TV wiring, plumbing, etc. "   (Bold added for emphasis)