The capacity of a cellular direct sequence code division multiple access system is investigated in situations with and without power control for both the reverse link (from mobile to base station) and the forward link (from base station to mobile). The capacity is defined as the number of simultaneous users per cell with a prespecified performance. A theoretical analysis of the effect of imperfect power control on the reverse link capacity is presented using an analytical model. To investigate the reverse link capacity without any form of power control, a general spatial user distribution is developed which is very suitable for analytical study of any multiple access system with the near-far effect problem. The performance of the reverse link of a CDMA system is also evaluated considering the users located in surrounding cells. Finally, the forward link capacity is studied considering multiple cells. Two possible forward power control schemes, namely carrier-to-interference ratio driven and distance driven systems, are discussed.