The cell phone is 40 years old

Proof, perhaps, that competition in the field of mobile telephony is not new. While the operating principle of the cell phone has not fundamentally changed in 40 years, design and technology have evolved rapidly, stimulated by fierce competition between cell phone companies. The DynaTAC created by Martin Cooper and designer Rudy Krolopp, both employed by Motorola, was 22 centimeters long, weighed more than a kilogram and had 30 printed electronic circuits.

The first generation of cell phones was released in the early 90s by Motorola. Battery life was less than an hour.

Photo: University of Salford

And for those who complain about the battery life of some smartphones, notably the iPhone, Motorola's DynaTAC was 35 minutes, and it took 10 hours to recharge, as explained by the Wired magazine. But at the time, it was a real revolution, because if wireless communication technologies were already used, especially in the military field, there was not yet a portable device as light as the DynaTAC.

Motorola will have invested more than 100 million dollars to arrive at the manufacture of this prototype, explains Professor Nigel Linge, in an article published on the site of the University of Salford.

The distant ancestor of the cell phone is the walkie-talkie used by American soldiers during World War II. Subsequently, telephones installed in automobiles gained popularity in the United States.

If the first telephone conversation using a cell phone was made 40 years ago, it will take 10 years for Motorola to succeed in democratizing this technology. Because the company had to adapt in particular to the regulations in force, in the field of telecommunications. Eventually, Motorola released its first consumer cell phone in 1983: it weighed less than a kilogram and cost $3,500, Wired magazine explains.

Motorola was primarily targeting professionals and entrepreneurs in its DynaTAC ad. The firm highlighting the mobility of its device, as opposed to portable phones installed in automobiles, as can be seen in this advertisement:

It took until 1990 for the number of users to reach one million. Today, many countries have more cell phones than people.

The future is in data exchange

Since then, the number of cell phones has grown dramatically. In Canada, more than 26 million people had a cell phone subscription in 2012, according to figures from the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association. There were only 6,000 in 1987.

In 2011, there were 6 billion mobile cellular subscribers worldwide, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The future now lies in technologies using mobile broadband, ie the exchange of data via wireless devices, according to the ITU.

But there is still a long way to go to make this technology accessible to everyone. "For mobile broadband to replicate the miracle of mobile cellular telephony, it is necessary to expand 3G coverage and bring prices down further," the ITU explained in a 2012 report. mobile telephony are falling around the world, they remain very high in the least developed countries, compared to the average income per inhabitant, deplores the ITU.

In addition:

The 2012 report of the International Telecommunication Union (New window)

Bahador Zabihiyan's explanations: