These days, everybody has a mobile phone. Whether they are on a pay and go tariff or a contract, the mobile telephone has become an essential item. This article will be taking a look at the mobile phone's history - & its future - in order to discover more about the now essential telecommunications device.

1G

Forget all about Alexander Graeme bell! On 3rd April 1973, Motorola employee Dr Martin Cooper made a call to his rival, Joel Engel, who was head of research at AT&T's Bell Labs. Doctor Martin made the call while he was walking the streets of New York City & did so through the first Motorola DynaTAC prototype in front of journalists. Motorola has a long history of making radios for vehicles, particularly two way radios for taxis & police cars.

The very first mobile phones were named first generation phones, also known as 1G. The 1G era lasted from the late 1970s through to the 1980s. These devices were the very first genuine mobile phones, although they were then called cellular mobile radio telephones, and were based on analogue signalling. The use of an analogue signal was the difference between these first generation mobile phones and their second-generation cousins, which emerged a few years later.

2G

Second generation (2G) mobile telephones first appeared in the nineties. Unlike 1g telephones that were analogue, 2G telephones use digital signals to provide voice services, SMS text messaging & internet access.

Some of the advantages of 2-G telephones are that they use lower radio signals, which need less battery power. This means that telephones last much longer between charges, so batteries - & thus the phones themselves - can be made smaller. In addition to this, 2-G telephones offer more privacy. Indeed, digital telephone calls are much harder to eaves drop on than 1-g phone calls.

The name 2.5G is used to refer to the telephone technology that is post 2G, but not quite 3-G. However, while the terms 2G & 3-G are officially defined, the term 2.5G isn't. In fact, this term was invented for marketing purposes only.

3G

3-G is the name applied to the third generation of mobile telephone standards & technology. 3G follows 2-G mobile telephone technology.

The invention of 3-G technologies permit network operators such as Vodafone to offer their users a bigger range of more advanced services. These include video calls & wireless internet.

Although 3-G was introduced successfully throughout the world, numerous issues have been raised by both 3-G providers & users, including complaints about pricey telephones.

Conclusion

We hope our article has given you more information about the mobile phone's history. As you have probably realised, the mobile telephone's come a hell of a long way and will probably continue to progress even further still.