Fritzo
Lifer
Cell phones may seem like a fairly modern invention, but AT&T actually tested mobile phones for use in Swedish police cars as early as 1946. AT&T wanted to test them in the US, but the FCC would not allow them to use air waves for telephone transmissions.
It's actually a pretty interesting story after that: AT&T had a lot of engineering talent in the 1960's, and those engineers had the foresight to know that wireless communications was the future. Since the FCC would not allow people to walk around with high powered mobile broadcasting stations to make phone calls, AT&T came up with a plan to provide wireless phone service over wide areas by employing low powered radio towers that covered a "cell" of a few miles. As the person travelled, the call would be passed from tower to tower for uninterrupted service.
Meanwhile- rival Motorola had developed their own mobile phone around the same time. On this date in 1973 (4/3/1973), Motorola engineer Martin Cooper used a prototype to make the very first cell phone call. You know who he called?
AT&T's R&D Department (PWNED!)
To be fair, AT&T was first to get FCC approval for a cell phone network, which they set up in Chicago in 1978. Motorola set one up in Washington D.C in 1981, and the FCC opened up the air for cell traffic in 1982. Today, nearly 80% of people in the US have cell phones.
It's actually a pretty interesting story after that: AT&T had a lot of engineering talent in the 1960's, and those engineers had the foresight to know that wireless communications was the future. Since the FCC would not allow people to walk around with high powered mobile broadcasting stations to make phone calls, AT&T came up with a plan to provide wireless phone service over wide areas by employing low powered radio towers that covered a "cell" of a few miles. As the person travelled, the call would be passed from tower to tower for uninterrupted service.
Meanwhile- rival Motorola had developed their own mobile phone around the same time. On this date in 1973 (4/3/1973), Motorola engineer Martin Cooper used a prototype to make the very first cell phone call. You know who he called?
AT&T's R&D Department (PWNED!)
To be fair, AT&T was first to get FCC approval for a cell phone network, which they set up in Chicago in 1978. Motorola set one up in Washington D.C in 1981, and the FCC opened up the air for cell traffic in 1982. Today, nearly 80% of people in the US have cell phones.
