The many twists and turns in the history of the mobile phone

Analysis: thanks to advances in technology and communication, mobile phone systems worldwide have been utterly transformed

By Cornelia Connolly, Tony Hall and Jim Lenaghan, NUI Galway

Mobile telephony followed mobile radio systems. In contrast to the established wired services of the early 1900s, radio transmitters working at the same frequency interfere with each other and only a limited number of channels are available at any one time, within a certain range.

In the early days, local, regional, national and international telecommunication networks were required in order to telecommunicate. Individual users were connected with one or more local networks. The users, such as subscribers of public networks, were connected by their local exchange mainly by means of a single cable pair, open-wire, or at distant or isolated locations by radio (nowadays by broadband optical fiber systems). Generally, national telecommunication networks consist of a number of local or regional exchanges, connected via transmission links with a tandem exchange, which are themselves interconnected by means of copper or optical fiber cable, radio relay or satellite.

Back then, a member of the general public who was keen to acquire a mobile phone, and rich enough to pay for one, would gain access to a local network, but countrywide coverage was unavailable. The reasons for the popularity and widespread use of mobile communications were largely driven by economics. There was limited return on investment for telecommunication companies establishing an elaborate network without payback so companies waited until equipment became relatively inexpensive and expected user demand high.

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From RTÉ Archives, RTÉ News reports on the launch of the new Eircell mobile phone system in 1985

In the United States, AT&T implemented the first car phone system in St. Louis that had one transceiver station with six FM channels. In 1921, the US congress passed the Graham Act, which exempted telephony from the Antitrust Act, permitting AT&T to acquire competing companies and legally create a virtual monopoly.

US Congress created the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and defined its powers in the Communication Act of 1934. The FCC was given jurisdiction over interstate and foreign commerce in communications, but not telecommunications within a state. Use of radio frequency spectrum and licensing of radio transmitters were given to the FCC. Jurisdiction over telecommunications within each state was the concern of the state’s public utility commission.

When Bell Laboratories proposed cellular mobile telephony technology to the FCC in 1947, spectrum was not granted for mobile telephony due to the influence of the television industry. Not until May 1970 did the FCC grant parts of the spectrum for mobile telephony. Bell Laboratories had a technology called Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS) which was ready to be developed in 1971. The basic principles of cellular telephony were comprehensively described in AT&T's technical journal in 1979. However, the first system was not made available to consumers until 1983 due to government intervention. (In order to stimulate competition, the FCC decided two licenses would be issued in each area).

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From Periscope Film, a film from Bell in the late 1940s explains the operation of the Mobile Telephone Service

The introduction of these cellular systems in the late 1970s and early 1980s represented a quantum leap in mobile communication around capacity and mobility. As semiconductor technology and microprocessors were made smaller and lighter, more refined mobile systems became a reality.

The AMPS technology, a 1G cellular system, was reaching its capacity in the late 1980s. Temporary solutions such as Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) provided additional capacity, but Personal Communications Services (PCS) networks became the more concrete solution. This is defined as 'a broad range of radio communications service that free individuals from the constraints of wire-line Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) and enable them to communication when they are away from their home or office telephone.’ Code Division Multiple Access (CMDA) became the most popular technology for the PCS system.

Across the Atlantic, Europe took a different approach. Many technical innovations emerged in Scandinavia with the first mobile telephony system established in Sweden in 1950. The Scandinavian countries formed the Nordic Council, which developed the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) cellular system.

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In 1975, the Nordic Mobile Telephone 450 specifications were established and the first system was used commercially in 1981. Compared to the American AMPS, the NMT standard was easier to deploy, had roaming properties and utilized digital switching technology. The other major standard in Europe was the United Kingdoms’ Total Access Communications System (TACS), a variation of the AMPS.

In 1982, the successor to NMT and TACS was determined by the European working group Groupe Speciale Mobile. The Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications used narrowband TDMA and the necessity to improve transmission quality, system capacity and coverage led to the development of the 2G cellular system. The innovation in semiconductor technology and microwave devices subsequently introduced digital transmission to mobile communications.

An agreement was made by 12 European countries to support the GSM standard in 1987 and GSM was supported in time by all European Union countries. There was a generous allocation of frequency bands from 890 to 915MHz and from 935 to 960MHz for the up- and down- link respectively. That new system offered security against unauthorised intrusion, better sound quality, cheaper sets and wider access.

From Tech Insider, a history of mobile phones and how drastically they've changed

In the early 1980s, less than one million subscribers were registered worldwide, primarily due to such constraints as expensive equipment, restricted mobility and limited service. With the introduction of 1G, the mobile market gew annually by rates of 30% to 50% and had risen to nearly 20 million subscribers by 1990.

In the early 2000s, multiple 1G and 2G cellular systems were used in worldwide mobile communications. 2G cellular systems include GSM, Digital AMPS (D-AMPS), CDMA and Personal Digital Communication (PDC). Different standards serve different applications and different levels of mobility, capability, and service areas.

GSM is the most successful family of cellular standards (GSM900, GSM-R, GSM1800, GSM1900 and GSM400), and supports some 250 million of the worlds 450 million users with international roaming in around 140 countries and over 400 networks. Phase 1 of the standardisation of GSM900 was completed by the European Telecommunications Institute (ETSI) in 1990 and included all necessary definitions for the GSM network operators, but only some very basic supplementary services were offered. Phase 2 (1995) incorporated a large variety of supplementary services comparable to the digital fixed network ISDN standards. In 1996, ETSI decided to further enhance GSM in annual Phase 2+ releases that absorbed 3G capabilities.

From RTÉ Archives, Mark Little reports for RTÉ News on the mobile phones and gadgets which tech companies were predicting for the future in 1999

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) was a 3G GSM successor standard that is downward compatible with GSM, using the GSM Phase 2+ enhanced core network. Envisioned as the successor to GSM UMTS signalled the move into the third (3G) and fourth generation (4G) of mobile networks, addressing the growing demand of mobile and Internet applications for new capabilities along with establishing a global roaming standard.

Within a few years, mobile phone systems worldwide have been utterly transformed. Invention and improvement of electrical telecommunications technology throughout the world has advanced from the simple communication methods such as smoke and drums, to a telegraph link, into a proliferation of networks of wired and wireless communication channels and switching centres that can be networked to provide a seamless global network.

Through this network, information in the form of print, electronic and spoken word, pictures and data can be transferred between most points in the world almost instantaneously. Undoubtedly, wireless communication services are expected to be the telecommunication industry’s most significant growth area in the next decade.

Dr Cornelia Connolly is a Lecturer and Researcher at the School of Education at NUI Galway. She is also a member of Lero, the SFI Centre for Software Research.

Dr Cornelia Connolly is a Lecturer and Researcher in educational design, education technology and computer science education at the School of Education at NUI Galway, and a member of Lero, the SFI Centre for Software Research. Dr Tony Hall is a senior lecturer in Educational Technology and a design-based researcher in the School of Education at NUI Galway. Jim Lenaghan is Chief Technical Officer at NUI Galway where he manages the technical support for teaching, learning and research at the School of Education.

The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ

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