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25th Anniversary of the 1st Commercial Mobile Phone Call
Published on: 10th October 2008
The US wireless industry trade body, the CTIA has noted that this month marks the 25th anniversary of the first commercial cellular call in the United States. The first commercial cellular call was placed on October 13, 1983 to the grandson of Alexander Graham Bell in Germany from the president of Ameritech Mobile Communications at a ceremony held outside of Soldier Field in Chicago, IL. This transatlantic conversation launched the nation's first citywide commercial cellular system.
Weighing nearly two pounds and 13 inches long, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X used on that historic day had only 30 minutes of talk time, a far cry from the sleek, thin multi-purpose wireless handsets of today.
"Wireless technology is the printing press of the 21st century," said Steve Largent, President and CEO, CTIA - The Wireless Association®. "What started as a simple call has transformed into a cultural phenomena of instant communication and broader and equal access to the world at our fingertips. From the ¢â‚¬Ëœbrick' phone of the 80's, to today's 3G broadband world, wireless has evolved from mere voice communication to a new era of data transmission and democratizing communications that are transforming our commerce and culture along the way."
The Next 25 Years
"Wireless technology is providing unparalleled and affordable communication benefits and services for Americans in all walks of life,"added Largent. "Consumer demand for innovative and dynamic services continues to grow, and the wireless industry is constantly evolving to satisfy that growing appetite."
Today's teens - the first generation born into a wireless society - will largely drive the next wave of innovation of the cell phone. According to the CTIA- Harris Interactive "Teenagers: A Generation Unplugged" online survey released in September 2008, teens envision future wireless devices that better fit their lifestyle. Teens also have set high goals for the mobile industry and are looking to mobility to fundamentally reshape the future. Among their preferences, they want phones to guarantee secured data access to the user only (80 percent), provide accessibility to personal health records (66 percent), present opportunities to be educated anywhere in the world (66 percent) and bring users closer to global issues impacting their world (63 percent).
"Mobile devices in the future will be more flexible and have more sophisticated features, the interaction between the device and the user will be even more personal and interactive, and ultra-fast mobile data service will pave the way for even more fantastic and useful applications," commented Largent. "Without a doubt, we'll have plenty of new achievements to celebrate in 2033 on the 50th anniversary of the first commercial cell phone call."
Tags: [mobile data] [motorola] [rsa] [personal] [harris interactive] [harris] [ctia] [bell] [wave] [health] [era] [cell phone] [printing] []
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