19/11/2024
On April 3, 1973, in New York City, Motorola engineer Martin Cooper made history by placing the first-ever call from a cell phone. Interestingly, he later shared that building the phone was simpler than choosing whom to call for this historic moment. Up until the late 19th century, wireless communication primarily served the maritime industry. However, as the 20th century began, initial strides were made to introduce it for land-based use. Police departments, firefighters, banks, and stock exchanges were among the earliest adopters of this technology. By 1946, the United States became the first country to make it available to private users. AT&T launched a 6-channel Mobile Telephone System, and in 1968, an improved 44-channel service was introduced, though both systems required fixed frequencies, meaning each phone functioned like a local radio station.
In 1947, Bell Labs engineer Douglas Ring introduced AT&T executives to the concept of "Cellular" technology, a revolutionary idea that involved dividing areas into “cells,” each equipped with an antenna to optimize spectrum use. This allowed the same frequency to be used in multiple zones simultaneously. However, there were significant technical challenges: the phones needed to operate at very high frequencies, and the system had to detect and seamlessly transfer calls as users moved between cells, requiring a complex real-time database that exceeded the capacity of the technology available at the time. As a result, the implementation of cellular technology was delayed by more than two decades.
By the late 1960s, the race was on among major telecommunications companies to bring this cellular system to life. AT&T’s Bell Labs, led by Joel Engel, seemed close to succeeding. But then Martin Cooper, a spirited engineer from Motorola, surprised everyone by developing the DynaTAC 8000X. Despite being bulky and cumbersome, the phone worked, and Motorola planned a grand presentation at the Hilton Hotel in New York to showcase this new device. Cooper, however, wanted to ensure everything was in working order before the official demonstration. Motorola agreed, yet one question lingered: who would receive the first call?
Undeterred by others’ hesitation, Cooper followed his instincts. On April 3, he strolled along Sixth Avenue in New York, holding the massive phone, and dialed a number that no one expected: Bell Labs at AT&T. When Joel Engel picked up, Cooper cheerfully announced, “I’m calling you from the first cell phone in history. Tune in to your TV in ten minutes—you’ll see me presenting it live at the Hilton.”