Brief History Of Mobile Phone
- The first commercial telephone calls in the UK were made in 1912 when the General Post Office controlled the telephone networks. Call costs were as follows:
DAYTIME (7am - 7pm)
Up to 25 miles - 3d for 3 minutes
25-50 miles - 6d for 3 minutes
50-75 miles - 9d per 3 minutes
75-100 miles - 1shilling for 3 minutes
NIGHTIME (7pm - 7am)
25-50 miles - 6d for 3 minutes
50-75 miles - 6d " " "
75-100 miles - 6d " " "
- In 1946 a mobile telephone service (MTS) was introduced by AT&T in the United States. A mobile user who wished to place a call from a radiotelephone had to search manually for an unused 35-megahertz or 150-megahertz band before they could place a call. Only one person could speak at a time and the call direction was controlled by a push-to-talk button on the handset just like a walkie talkie.
- When mobiles were first launched, each country was limited to its own national area - they could call overseas landlines or mobiles but they would not work overseas. The first mobile phone weighed 76lbs (34kg).
- In May 1983 Licences were granted to Cellnet and Vodafone to provide national cellular radio networks in the UK.
- In the early 1980's the consultants McKinsey & Co were hired by AT&T to forecast the growth in the mobile market until the end of the millennium. They projected a world market of 900,000. Today, 900,000 handsets are sold every three days.
- 1985 saw the emergence of shoulder phones which operated with more than 20kg worth of batteries… which is why they were used mostly in cars.
- Vodafone and Cellnet opened for business in January 1985. Cellnet's charges were as follows -
-Lease of cellular phone - £164 per quarter (equivalent of approximately £262 at today's prices)
-Installation charge - £100 (approximately £160 at today's prices)
-Connection to Cellnet system - £60 (approximately £96 at today's prices)
-Call tariffs
8am - 8pm 25p per minute (approximately 40p at today's prices)
6am - 8am 15p per minute (approximately 24p at today's prices)
8pm - 10pm - 15p per minute
All other times - 8p per minute (approximately 12.5p at today's prices). - The first call ever placed on a commercial GSM (Global Standard for Mobile) phone was on 1 July 1991. Harri Holkeri, governor of the Bank of Finland, telephoned the mayor of Helsinki to talk about the price of Baltic herring.
- September 1993 saw the launch of One 2 One, the first GSM 1800 all-digital network in the world.
- April 1994 Hutchison Microtel announced the launch of its UK network, Orange.
- SMS - the Short Message Service - was launched in 1994 enabling short text messages to be exchanged between mobiles.
- In December 1998, Oftel Director General, David Edmonds, announced an intention to implement fully the recommendations made by the MMC following an investigation, made at the request of Oftel, into the price of calls made to mobile phones.
- In 1998 more mobile phones were sold world-wide than cars and PCs combined.
- From 1 January 1999, mobile phone customers were able to keep their old number when switching networks. The UK is the first country in the world to give customers this ability.
- April 1999 saw the emergence of the first mobiles able to send email and use the web.
- 22 September 1999, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee finds no health risk from mobile phones apart from use while driving, though urges manufacturers to continue research.
2000
- Kyocera introduces its QCP6035 mobile phone, the very first widely available Palm OS-based phone. It costs between $400 and $500 but only included 8MB of memory.
2001
- Before Palm acquired Handspring, the company released its Handspring Treo 180 cellular phone, which came in two versions. The Treo 180 was available with a QWERTY keyboard as well as in a separate version with text input method called Graffiti.
2002
- The Danger Hiptop, which later became known as the T-Mobile Sidekick, hits the mobile space. It is one of the first mobile devices to include a quality Web browser, reliable e-mail access and instant messaging, as well a unique swiveling form factor. (PCWorld.com later went on to name the device its 2003 product of the year.)
- The BlackBerry 5810 hits the market in 2002, and though it's not the first BlackBerry, it's the first such device from Research In Motion (RIM) to include voice functionality--though a headset is required because it doesn't have an external microphone or speaker.
- Sanyo and Sprint make the Sprint SCP-5300 PCS available, and both companies claim it's the first mobile phone in the United States to include a digital camera. Image quality is, however, less than impressive.
2004
- Motorola announces its RAZR v3 cell phone and starts a trend toward ultra-thin, stylish phones that's still influencing mobile device manufacturers today. The RAZR v3 is a "cool" device that everyone, from high schoolers to businessmen, wants. It's still one of the most popular mobile phones, and its one of the few handsets offered by the majority of major cellular carriers.
2006
- RIM, known for its high-end business phones and reliable "push" e-mail technology, makes its first foray into the consumer space with the BlackBerry Pearl 8100. The device is the first from RIM to include a digital camera and media player and it's also the smallest, thinnest BlackBerry--currently, the company's 8800 series of devices are the thinnest it offers. (Read CIO.com's review for more on the BlackBerry Pearl.)
2007
- Apple releases the iPhone, a beautifully designed device that includes an innovative--and much hyped up--touch screen navigation interface, which doesn't require the use of a stylus. The device is available exclusively through AT&T in the United States, and it comes in a 4GB version for $499 and an 8GB version for $599.
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