Provided is a metal strip for a pipe with which the weight of a pipe can be reduced while maintaining the strength of a joint portion that tends to be structurally the weakest. A mobile station communicating with a plurality of base stations at a soft handoff measures the signal strengths of forward common pilot channels received from the base stations and transmit them to the base stations sequentially. A portion of at least one electrode is in contact with a respective conducting portion so as to provide a means of external electrical connection to the electrode.