Phones

The Development of Communication Technology

  • The First Working Electric Telegraph

    The First Working Electric Telegraph
    An American painter Samuel Morse made the first working electric telegraph using an electromagnet. By 1838 he had also developed the system of dots and dashes which enabled complex messages to be sent. By 1844 he had raised support from Congress and the first telegraph line was opened, from Baltimore to Washington. Morse sent the first message: 'What hath God wrought?'
  • The First Telephone Call

    The First Telephone Call
    This was The First Ever Telephone. Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call on March 10th, 1876, in Boston, through the Liquid Transmitter he had designed. He uttered the first words to be carried over a wire: "Mr. Watson, come here, I want you!"
  • The Growth in the Mobile Market

    The Growth in the Mobile Market
    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.
  • First Idea of a Carphone

    First Idea of a Carphone
    In 1906, a radio engineer named Lee de Forest transmitted a message to an experimental phone in a car idling on a New York street: "How do you like your first wireless ride? The fire department, steamships, and railways ought to adopt the same method of communication." Later he declared: "Hereafter, we hope it will be possible for businessmen, even while automobiling, to stay in constant touch."
  • The First Commercial Telephone Calls

    The First Commercial Telephone Calls
    The first commercial telephone calls in the UK were made in 1912 when the General Post Office controlled the telephone networks.
  • The First Mobile Telephone Service is Introduced

    The First Mobile Telephone Service is Introduced
    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.
  • First Ever Mobile Phone

    First Ever Mobile Phone
    This is the first ever mobile phone. 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 about 76lbs (34kg) or can be 2.5 pounds. The talktime was 35 minutes and the re-charge time was 10 hours. It's features were Talk, Listen and Dial. It had 30 ciruit boards and was a massive size of 9x5x1.5 inches! This Mobile Phone was called The Motorola DynaTAC.
  • Licences For The First National Cellular Radio Networks In The UK

    Licences For The First National Cellular Radio Networks In The UK
    In May 1983 Licences were granted to Cellnet and Vodafone to provide national cellular radio networks in the UK.
  • Vodafone and Cellnet Opened for Business

    Vodafone and Cellnet Opened for Business
    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)
  • The First Car Phone

     The First Car Phone
    The First Carphone was called. In 1985, the First Carphone was invented. We saw the emergence of shoulder phones which operated with more than 20kg worth of batteries. This is why they were mostly used in cars.
  • The First Call Ever Placed On A Commercial GSM

    The First Call Ever Placed On A Commercial GSM
    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.
  • The Launch Of One-2-One

    The Launch Of One-2-One
    In September and the year 1993, we saw the launch of One-2-One, the first GSM 1800 all-digital network in the world.
  • The Launch of The Mobile Network Orange

    The Launch of The Mobile Network Orange
    In April and the year of 1994 a man named Hutchison Microtel announced the launch of one of the UK's biggest networks, Orange.
  • The Launch of SMS

    The Launch of SMS
    SMS - the Short Message Service - was launched in 1994 enabling short text messages to be exchanged between mobiles. This enabled people to contact other people by messaging otherwise known as texting.
  • The Prices of Calls Made to Mobile Phones

    The Prices of Calls Made to Mobile Phones
    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.
  • Money Rised From Selling Mobile Phones

    Money Rised From Selling Mobile Phones
    In 1998 more mobile phones were sold world-wide than cars and PCs combined. People could communicate with a Mobile Phone by calling or texting others. Also it's alot smaller than a PC/ Computer and is easily able to carry round.
  • Mobile Phone's Enabled Customers to Keep The Same Number

    Mobile Phone's Enabled Customers to Keep The Same Number
    From 1st 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.
  • Emergence of Needing to Use The Web and Sending Emails

    Emergence of Needing to Use The Web and Sending Emails
    In April 1999, we saw another emergence of the first mobile phone's being able to send emails and to use the web.
  • Research on Health Risks of Using Mobile Phones

    Research on Health Risks of Using Mobile Phones
    On 22nd September 1999, The House of Commons Science and Technology Committee find no health risk from mobile phones apart from using them while driving. Although they urge manufacturers to continue research about these risks. This can also damage your brain if used too much.
  • Phones Today and Their Features

    Phones Today and Their Features
    Today we have picture phones, multimedia video messaging and 3G handsets. Mobile phones have become a massive part of our lives, so much so that you sometimes wonder how you got by without one. Also touch- screen phones have been invented such as the iPhone and it's many generations. Camera's and Video Recorder's and Instant Messaging are all features of our Mobile Phones today and talktime is a lot more longer and lasts for hours whereas re-charge time takes about half an hour or even minutes!