HISTORY

Former Systems Division General Manger, Dr. Martin Cooper at Motorola was reckoned to be the inventor of the first modern portable handset. Martin made the first call on a portable cell phone in April 1973 to his rival, Joel Engel, head of research, Bell Laboratories which introduced the idea of cellular communications. Initially, it was AT&T, which has patented the idea of portable phone system in 1947, and Motorola was the first to integrate the technology into a portable device for use outside an automobile.

The basic idea of mobile phones has began in the year 1940 when researchers looked at crude mobile (car) phones and comprehended it by using small cells with frequency reuse could enhance the traffic capacity of mobile phones substantially; however, the technology to perform was not existing. Any activity in connection to broadcasting and sending a radio or television communication out over the airwaves would fall under the purview of a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation that a mobile phone is in fact, a type of two-way radio.

In 1947, AT&T proposed that the FCC allocate a large number of radio spectrum frequencies, so that wide-spread mobile phone service could become feasible and AT&T would have an incentive to research the new technology. Because of the FCC’s prohibition, only 23 cellular phone conversations could occur concurrently in the same service area.       

However, in 1968, the FCC began to reconsider its position and stated that "if the technology to build a better mobile phone service works, we will increase the cellular phone frequencies allocation, freeing the airwaves for more mobile phones." AT&T - Bell Labs proposed a cellular phone system of many small, low-powered broadcast towers, each covering a 'cell' a few miles in radius, collectively covering a larger area. Here, each tower would use only a few of the total frequencies allocated to the cellular phone system, and cellular phone calls would be transmitted from tower to tower, when the cars are on the move.

And by 1977, AT&T Bell Labs began operating a prototype cellular phone system. In 1978, public trials of the new cellular phone system were started in Chicago, with over 2000 trial cellular phone customers, and in 1979, the first commercial cellular phone system began operation in Tokyo, Japan.  Comprehensive and automatic mobile networks (the 1G generation) with the Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT) system was first launched in 1981, followed by a boom in mobile telephone usage, Northern Europe.

Two years later, Motorola and American Radio phone have started a 2nd U.S. cellular radio-phone system test in the Washington/Baltimore area. By 1982, the FCC finally authorized commercial cellular phone service for the USA. In 1983, the first American commercial for analog cellular phone service or AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone Service) was launched in Chicago, IL by Ameritech. Even though there was a huge demand, it took cellular phone service 37 years to become commercially available in the U.S., and by 1987, mobile subscribers’ base has crossed 1million. In 1987, FCC, to stimulate the growth of mobile technology, declared that mobile phone licenses may employ alternative phone technologies in the 800 MHz band.

MANUFACTURERS
Currently, Nokia Corporation is the world's largest manufacturer of mobile telephones, with a global market share touching 36% in Q1 of 2007. Some of the other mobile manufacturers include Apple Inc., Verizon, Research In Motion, Motorola, Philips, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Audiovox (now UT Starcom), Benefon, BenQ-Siemens, High Tech Computer Corporation (HTC), Fujitsu, Kyocera, LG Mobile, Mitsubishi, Panasonic,  Siemens, Toshiba etc.

WORLDWIDE SUBSCRIBER BASE: 3 BILLION
According to Informa, (a market research and consulting company), the worldwide mobile subscriber base has touched 3 billion, even though there are less than 2.3 billion users of mobile services. The company further forecasted that users of mobile services will not reach 3 billion until the end of 2009, by which time subscriptions are forecast to reach 4 billion. This enormous growth rate of the subscriber base can be attributed to the expansion of networks in developing markets, and also more and more people preferring to own a two or three subscriptions.

The number of multiple-SIM users is expected to grow as operators seek to extract incremental revenues from customers by offering second SIMs for cheaper call rates, particular data services, roaming etc. Even in Western Europe, where multiple-SIM ownership has propelled the mobile penetration rate past 100%, subscriptions continue to increase.

As revenue is spread across more subscriptions and as mobile telephony is extended to more and more people on low incomes in developing markets, average revenue per user (ARPU) is coming down.