subject: History of the Cell Phone [print this page] Its hard to remember when we didn't have cell phones at our disposal. While cell phones seem relatively new, the technology behind them dates back a little further.
One could say cell phones started with radiophones or two-way radios. These types of radios were used throughout the Second World War during the 1950s. The hand-held mobile device didn't become available until 1973.
The technology for the mobile phone could be said to have made a large leap in the 1940s. Motorola developed a backpacked two-way radio, a Walkie-Talkie of sorts that was large and hand-held. The device could let one call a local telephone network with a range of up to 20 kilometers.
The mobile phone throughout the 50s consisted of a small handset equipped with an antenna and rotary dial. It had to communicate with a base station. In 1958 a pocket version of the phone was developed weighing all of 500 grams.
In 1969, a wireless phone was designed using an acoustic coupler for incoming calls. One had to stay within their cell area which was served by a base station to use this phone. This was mostly impractical on a large scale. Meanwhile, two-way mobile radios were being used frequently in taxis, police cars and ambulances. These phones were often permanently installed in vehicles but later developed into the bag phone.' The Mobile Telephone System or MTA was made up of vacuum tube and relays. In 1962 it was upgraded to a MTD and in 1983 it had 600 customers.
A network in Finland launched one of the first commercial mobile phone networks in 1971. It too had limited coverage networks. Bell Labs continued researching the technology and invented the call handoff' system which allowed mobile phones to move through several cell areas during a single conversation. The FCC approved the proposal in 1982 and allocated frequencies.
These phones were followed with what is called First Generation or 1G phones. With First Generation phone technology came the availability of multiple cell sites and the ability to transfer calls from one site to the next as the user traveled. The first 1G phone was launched in Japan by NTT in 1979.
Several other countries also launched 1G networks in the early 1980s including the UK, Mexico and Canada. A two year trial started in 1981 in Baltimore and Washington DC with 150 users and 300 Motorola DynaTAC pre-production phones.
The second generation or 2G phones came in the 1990s. They differed from 1G in their
use of digital transmission instead of analog transmission. The rise in mobile phone usage as a result of 2G was explosive and this era also saw the advent of prepaid mobile phones
Phones during the 2G years also began to shrink in size due to the development of more advanced batteries and energy-efficient technology. 2G also included SMS or text messaging. Second generation technology included the ability to access media content on mobile phones. In 1998 the first downloadable content sold to mobile phones was the ring tone.
Third generation phones stemmed from users demanding more data services such as access to the Internet. The main technological difference that distinguishes 3G technology from 2G technology is the use of packet switching rather than circuit switching for data transmission.
3G networks were being launched in 2001 and 2002 in places like Japan, Tokyo and South Korea and the USA. In 2003, there were eight commercial launches of 3G.
The high connection speeds of 3G technology enabled a transformation in the industry: for the first time, media streaming of radio (and even television) content to 3G handsets became possible.
By the end of 2007 there were 295 Million subscribers on 3G networks worldwide, which reflected 9% of the total worldwide subscriber base.
Today, 2010 we are now seeing the 4G networks unfold more quickly. What will 5G or even future cell phones look like? It is hard to imagine, but anything is possible.
