History Of The Cellular Phone

The cellular phone has become very popular today and most people cannot imagine what life would be without these very useful devices. Essentially, it is a device (variously described as mobile phone and wireless phone) that does not have a very long range though it is portable and is used for voice or even data communication (mobile). It works over networked base stations that are described as cell sites.

More Than Voice Functions

A cellular phone of course supports voice functions; but, it also provides other functions including SMS (short message service) as well as email and packet switching, gaming and Bluetooth. Some cellular phones even have built-in cameras and they can send and receive MMS’s for sharing videos and photos.

Your cellular phone must be connected to a number of cell sites that in turn are connected to public switched telephone networks or PSTNs; however, this is not the case when using satellite telephones.

The history of the cellular phone can be traced to the year 1908 when a US patent was issued in the name of Nathan B. Stubblefield for what he termed as a ‘cave radio’ telephone. In the year 1947, the first cells that would later be used in cellular phones were invented by an engineer working at Bell Labs.

Other instances of the use of radio-phones have been known with an invention by Reginald Fessenden having been used throughout the Second World War. However, the hand-held cellular phone only came to be used in the year 1973. Since then, given the low costs involved, the cellular phone has been rapidly deployed and mobile phone networks too have mushroomed. In fact, the cellular phone today is much more popular than the conventional landline phones that for long were the main devices used for voice communication.

The cellular phone differs from a cordless telephone that is a simple radio handset that acts as a substitute for the wired phone handsets and which connects to a base station that in turn is hooked to conventional landline. However, you can also use the term cell phone to describe your mobile phone, which when it is switched on, will register with a mobile telephone exchange through which it can then send and receive calls.

At present, the Finnish company Nokia is manufacturing the largest number of cellular phones and its share of the global market is estimated to be in the region of forty percent for the year 2008.