Prepared for Cellular 25, 21st January 2010 at the Science Museum - marking the 25th year of cellular in the UK and the 100th anniversary of the Museum.  

Technology and engineering invention and innovation have sustained the British economy for the past 250 years and arguably much longer.

The ‘Cellular 25’ event at the Science Museum provided an opportunity to draw lessons from significant moments in our industry over the past twenty five years and helped identify how mobile communications will contribute to future global social, economic and environmental progress.

This is a record of technology, engineering, standards and regulatory innovation, demonstrating how enabling technologies, engineering effort and global standardisation have worked together to create an industry that is shaping our global future.

The timeline deliberately mixes technology, engineering, market and business way points – significant signposts on a journey that has only just begun.

We will have missed many significant moments – if you would like to provide additions or suggest amendments, please contact the Event Press office at cellular25@eml.com or contact Juliet Philip on  00 44 208 408 8000.

To read some of the Press coverage in the industry press follow the links below

http://kn.theiet.org/magazine/issues/0921/mighty-networks-0921.cfm

http://kn.theiet.org/magazine/issues/0921/25-years-in-a-flash-0921.cfm

Cellular 25 was organised by a steering committee representing each of the five UK cellular operators and was delivered by Cambridge Wireless with the valued support of a broad range of UK trade associations and the industry vendor community.

Click here to view the AGENDA or if you would like to discuss how Cambridge Wireless could help organise similar events for your own organisation contact Jo Harrison

 Jo.harrison@cambridgewireless.co.uk         

01223 422 366 

Pre history	UK timelines in black – general industry timelines in blue
1942	Radio with the first printed circuit board Science Museum Picture
1947	DH Ring at Bell labs describe principles of cellular frequency re use.
1948	Invention of the transistor by William Shockley Science Museum picture- UK examples
1959	CEPT created to promote telecommunications standardization within Europe
1965	Circuit blocks and integrated circuits Science Museum Picture
1969	Bell introduces first commercial system using cellular principles (handover and frequency reuse) on trains between Washington and New York. Mobile handover triggered by track hardware. Land stations are controlled by a central computer. Note that cellular with deterministic handover was working in 1969, but it took 10 years to solve the general handover problem illustrating the key importance of microprocessor development.
1971	Intel introduces 1st commercial microprocessor, the 4004 – see above.
1976	Apple 1A Personal computer Science Museum picture Cray Super Computer Science Museum Picture
1977	First commercial AXE switch shipped by Ericsson. First direct conversion receiver architecture developed at Standard Telecommunication Laboratories in Harlow used in the world's first single chip radio pager in 1978.
1978	Bahrain Telephone Company opens first commercial cellular telephone system, using Panasonic equipment.
1979	WARC’79 takes decision to set aside spectrum in 900 MHz range for land mobile communications in zone (i.e. Europe). Commercial mobile cellular opens in Japan.
1979	December 1st Start of cellular service in Japan. Japanese systems follow in Australia and Kuwait (1980)
1981	NMT cellular service introduced in Scandinavia. Supports international roaming. Development of patented TDD system at STL Harlow later used in Phonepoint Rabbit CT2 cordless telephones. Early work on softweare defined radio.
1982	CEPT R21 frequency managers reserve frequencies in the 900 MHz band for a pan European mobile service In December Groupe Speciale Mobile (GSM) has its first meeting in Stockholm. In December the UK government awards two cellular licenses to consortia led by BT and Racal Millicom. £25K license fee is considered to be expensive by the financial analyst community. As justification, Racal predicts 250,000 UK cell phone users by 1989, over three times more than the estimates of rival bidders.  By 1999 Racal (Vodafone) and BT (Cellnet) together had 1.1 million customers. Early business plans predicated on high priced mobile or transportable handsets, low penetration (under 2%) and low network cost to achieve profitability.
1983	In January the Joint Radio Telephone Interfaces Group (JRTIG) is established between BT, Sectel (to become Cellnet) and Racal, to define the TACS mobile standard By September, JRTIG had agreed the key principles of interconnect and air interface that opened up UK telecommunications to true competition for the first time, and set mobile operators as equal partners to incumbent Telco’s. Network architecture and signalling influenced by need for ISDN compatibility and use of SS7 signalling. Vodafone decide to use Ericsson AXE switch rather than AT and T 5ESS to ensure compliance with CCITT standards.
1984	October Franco-German political declaration to cooperate on joint R&D programme for digital cellular radio to be brought in to operation in the early 1990's. Doc S 900 Bonn 18.09.84 source F Hillebrand.
25 Year Timeline
1985	Racal Millicom (later Racal Telecom and then Vodafone) launches the UK's first cellular radio service on January 1st based on the analogue TACS standard, adapted from US AMPS but with 25 KHz rather than 30 KHz channel spacing). Cellnet follows eight days later. Original system used 1000 channels (25 MHz paired band) later extended to 1320 channels (ETACS 33 MHz paired band). A typical analogue FM TACS/ETACS mobile phone has a few kilobytes of memory, ten MIPS of processor bandwidth and 10000 lines of software code. Use of optimised FR4 printed circuit boards in order for phones to work at 900 MHz. Every phone took 8 hours to do RF tests. Agreement in Oslo to standardize SMS service.
1986	Developing awareness that VLSI scaling could offer the opportunity to design low cost small energy efficient handsets serviced from denser lower power networks. UK's 100,000th TACS customer connected in October. Racal buys out 20% minority stake in Vodafone for £130m.
1987	February to May Germany, France, Italy and UK meet in Bonn and agree basic parameters of GSM, serices, narrow band TDMA with DTX and SFH, GSM full rate codec and network architecture principles.EU RACE UMTS Research project launched.UK proposal for drawing up of GSM MoU is accepted and GSM MOU group formed based on draft developed by Stephen Temple at the DTI. UK government awards digital GSM licenses to Racal and Cellnet. 7th September. 13 countries sign MOU in Copenhagen.  It commits the mobile operators to complete the standard, procure networks and open GSM services by 1991.UK's 250,000th TACS customer connected in December.
1988	February MOU operators from 13 countries issue simultaneous invitations to tender for network build out. This fires up entire industrial eco-system from chips to mobiles to base stations to mobile telephone exchanges to invest in the industrialisation of GSM.
1989	GSM standardisation transferred to ETSI Phones on the Move published by UK DTI puts in place measures to accelerate mass market technology adoption of mobile radio and adds rocket booster to GSM. (stephen.temple@ntlworld.com) UK Government awards three "PCN" licences to Unitel, Mercury PCN and Microtel for deployment in the 1800 MHz band. Spectrum is found at 38 GHz to make back-hauling dense cell networks economic. DTI mandates GSM technology to be used for early scale economies for mobiles. Oftel imposes favourable regulatory conditions to improve investment case for new entrants rolling out dense cell networks at 1800 MHz. All measures needed to get the cellular business model to flip from relatively low cost wide area cell networks, high handset prices and low customer penetration to much higher cost dense cell networks, low handset prices and mass market adoption.
1990	Phase 1 GSM 900 specification are frozen, DCS adaptation started UK's millionth TACS customer connected in May. ITU-R issues first recommendation defining Future Public Land Mobile Telecommunications System (FPLMTS).
1991	Telecom Geneva first GSM network 11000 calls made Australian regulator  becomes first non-European body in MoU Racal Telecom renamed Vodafone Group and demerged from Racal Electronics. In July 1991 Unitel and Mercury PCN agreed to pool their resources to build a shared network in a new jointly owned organisation called Parallel Network Architectures. This has a parallel with the shared H3G/T-Mobile network build
1992	GSM rebranding to Global System for Mobile Communications First international roaming agreement between Vodafone UK and Telecom Finland, Telstra signs the MOU, interim type approval agreed. European SMS acceptance tests. Vodafone launches GSM commercially in June, its LowCall service in October; Cellnet follows with one month later. Unitel and Mercury PCN two of the three PCN licensees merge in March to form One2One. December first SMS sent. WARC 92 identifies 230 MHz of spectrum for FPLMTS now renamed IMT2000 with additional spectrum for satellite services.
1993	One million GSM customers  -32 networks. First SMS phones available. One2One launches the world's first DCS/PCN1800 service in September, limiting coverage to the area inside the M25 orbital motorway. Vodafone connects its millionth customer in November. Telstra joins GSM MOU.
1994	Four million GSM customers 69 networks US FCC auctions 1900 MHz Comparative trials of GSM and CDMA held in China. UK's two millionth customer connected in January. Cellnet connects millionth customer in March. In April, Hutchison launches the Orange 1800 service. UK reaches the three million milestone in October.
1995	One millionth GSM customer in the UK connected in September out of a total of 12 million GSM global customers, 117 networks, GSM phase 2 specifications agreed, start of SMS. UK DTI establishes UMTS Technical Advisory  Committee Vodafone becomes the first network in the world to introduce TACS authentication measures, to combat cloning fraud on the analogue network. A typical mobile phone has a few megabytes of memory, 100 MIPS of processor bandwidth and 100,000 lines of software code. GPRS evolution based on SS7 signalling protocols. Mike Short becomes Chairman of the MOU Association (1995/96). All networks become SMS capable and international SMS roaming becomes available. SMS starts to be used by young people  PCS1900 standard (GSM adapted for American frequency bands) approved by ANSI in March. First PCS 1900 network in USA by American Personal Communications (Washington DC).
1996	30 million GSM customers worldwide 167 networks Tri band phone development initiated. UMTS forum is inaugurated with Ed Candy as Chairman WCDMA wide band test bed voice, video and data multiplexed on a 5 MHz radio channel. Orange lists on the London Stock Exchange in April. UK reaches 10% penetration level in May. Vodafone launches UK first prepaid service in September. GSM overtakes TACS in December.Mobile VCE established –geared to harness UK University research to industry’s needs.
1997	Orange and One2One both connect their millionth customer in December. By May 15 PCS1900 networks in the US support 400000 users. GSM MOU represents 239 members from 109 countries.  IMT 2000 ITU R recommendation on 3G WCDMA based on need for ATM compatibility to support multi media multiplexing.
1998	GSM connections reach 100m in April. UK's 10 millionth customer connected in August. Q4 connections see 2.5m new connections - the first seven digit quarter. ETSI selects Wideband CDMA as the technology to be used for UMTS in the paired spectrum and TD CDMA for unpaired spectrum. 3GPP body formed to pursue harmonisation work started between ETSI in Europe and ARIB Japan, CWTS, later CCSA China, Committee T1 later absorbed within ATIS in the US, TTA in Korea and TTC in Japan. Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) founded in September. The launch of the Nokia 6110 – the first ARM Powered mobile phone. This phone was significant because it was a digital phone, it introduced games on mobile phones (snake), it was truly “pocket-sized” and it had a very long battery life (i.e. it was truly mobile). June 1998: Symbian established by Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola and Psion. World's first dual band GSM phone the Motorola 8800 launched in the spring.
1999	Vodafone merges with Air Touch Communications of California in June to create the world's largest mobile operator, with 26m customers.  BT buys Securicor's 40% interest in Cellnet in July. In August, Deutsche Telekom acquired One2One and in September, Air Touch merged its US businesses with GTE Mobility and Bell Atlantic Wireless to form Verizon Communications. Mannesmann buys Orange from Hutchison Whampoa in November for £20bn. Virgin Mobile launches the UK's first MVNO service in December. 3GPP2 formed in the US to oversee CDMA2000 standardisation and potential harmonisation with 3GPP standards. Release 99 in December establishes circuit switch and packet switch standard, radio bearers, MMS and location services. GSM connections reach 0.25bn in December. First tri band GSM phone the Motorola Timeport L7089 launched including WAP, shown at Telecom 99 in Geneva.
2000	Vodafone buys Mannesmann in February for EUR137bn. UK Government auctions five UMTS licences in April, raising £22.5bn. UK's 30 millionth customer connected in June, equivalent to >50% penetration. Vodafone sells Orange to France Telecom for £25.1bn in August. Mobiles outnumber landlines for the first time. WRC 2000 identifies 2500 to 2690 GHz band for IMT (now known as Band VII). UMTS auctions of the 1.9/2.1 GHz band (Band I)) in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Norway, Switzerland, Portugal and Sweden - over €100bn raised in total. HSDPA work item within 3GPP for WCDMA. Low cost energy efficient fast dense memory starts changing the form factor and functionality of cellular phones. November 2000: Ericsson R380 Smartphone launched. The world’s first Symbian-based smartphone.
2001	FT re-floats Orange on the London Stock Exchange in March. Vodafone buys Airtel in Spain and J-Phone in Japan, UK penetration hits 75% in August. BT sells its mobile businesses in November. March 2001 Release 4 standard for TD SCDMA for China. GSM connections reach 0.5bn
2002	BT Cellnet rebrands as O2 following its demerger from BT. UK's 50 millionth connection in November. Release 5 March 2002 HSDPA. Global connections (all technologies) exceed 1bn in April and exceed fixed line subscriptions (1.3 billion) by year end. October 2002: Orange SPV launched. First Microsoft-powered smartphone.
2003	Hutchison launches the '3' 3G service on 3rd March 2003.
2004	FT delists Orange in January. Virgin buys DT's 50% stake in Virgin Mobile in February. H3G connects its millionth customer in August. UK reaches 100% penetration in December. One billion GSM global subscribers by year end. Nokia becomes largest global camera vendor.
2005	O2 overtakes Vodafone to become the UK's largest network, in September. Release 6 March 2005 enhanced uplink and wireless LAN interworking. 2bn connections worldwide, August. LTE research and standardisation started by Ericsson. A typical mobile phone has a few gigabytes of memory, 1000 MIPS of processor bandwidth and 1,000,000 lines of software code. RF tests on the production line known take seconds though conformance testing now taking months – will get worse as additional bands are added.
2006	Telefonica buys O2 in January. Five millionth W-CDMA customer connected in May. Mobile outnumbers landline two to one by September. 2bn GSM connections, September. 2006 Green Radio first identified as a vital requirement by Mobile VCE’s Visions Group
2007	Release 7 September 2007 HSPA evolution including MIMO, December 2007 LTE feasibility study WRC 07 identifies additional spectrum at UHF, 2.3GHz  and 3.4 GHz to 4.2 GHz. 3Bn mobile connections in July. First LTE prototypes available. UK's 70 millionth connection made in September. 10 millionth W-CDMA customer connected in December. Touch screen display technologies, positioning and movement sensing start changing the form factor and functionality of cellular phones. First Apple I Phone launched (compare with 1976 Apple 1A Science Museum Picture)
2008	O2 connects its 20 millionth customer in December. 83 billion text messsages sent in the UK, UK second highest texting nation in the UK after the US (which sends ten times more). Source Ofcom  http://www.ofcom.org.uk/consumer/2009/12/uk-consumers-embrace-digital-communications/ 3Bn  global GSM connections in July.  0.25Bn W-CDMA connections in June. Release 8 December 2008 LTE ODFMA/SC FDMA air interface specification. Introduction of Home Node B and Home eNB Femto cell standard and self configuring network specification. 4Bn mobile connections in December Industry generating approx one trillion dollars of annual revenue.  3-4 trillion short messages generating a revenue of between $80 and $100 bllion. LTE interoperability tests. 2008 Launch of Mobile VCE’s Green Radio research programme
2009	125% penetration reached in June. In September, Orange and T-Mobile announce plans to merge. Global forecast of 4.55 billion subscribers by the end of 2009 of which 4 billion are GSM.  Release 9 includes personal area network standardisation. July 1 2009 Commercial launch of femto cells by Vodafone. Battle of the operating systems – Android handsets introduced by Verizon in the US – increasing uptake of mobile broadband. December 2009: Nokia N900 and a new breed of Internet tablet. LTE chip sets begin to become available.
2010	3GPP Release 10 LTE Advanced and System Architecture Evolution and Evolved Packet Core and Evolved Packet System specification, integration with IETF IP protocol standards making and related LTE work items.?? Note continued growth of texting - 100 Billion texts expected to be sent in 2010   MDA figures for the growth of UK Texting - - www.text.it 2009 - 96,844,943,861?? 2008 - 78,912,254,528?? 2004 - 26,253,000,000?? 1999. - 1,139,000,000
2015	Forecast to achieve 100% global penetration. (The Mobile World)
	Other sources of historical information: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/archive/oftel/about/history.htm
	Acknowledgements and sources: Commercial and market statistics 1982 to 2009 and forward projections from The Mobile World GSM Timelines 1987 to 1997 from the 10th Anniversary of the GSM MOU with thanks to Ian Channing. Additional information from T Mobile and 3, the FCS, Femto Cell forum. Individual additions from Rob Morland, Trevor Gill, Moray Rumney, David Cooper, Adrian Scrase(ETSI), Dominic Strowbridge, Neil Boucher (Australia) and Ian Vance with thanks. Mobile Telephone History Tom Farley, http://www.privateline.com/archive/TelenorPage_022-034.pdf http://www.communities-dominate.blogs.com/  Tomi T Ahonen’s blog for time lines from 1979 (start of the Japanese cellular industry)  Text of the GSM MOU, Quadrapartite Ministers declaration in Bonn 1987 and the Tripartite digital cellular radio agreement between France, Germany and Italy – Stephen Temple’s Political History of GSM is now available for download following clearance for publication.www.stephentemple.co.uk. http://www.gsmworld.com/about-us/history.htm - timeline for GSM produced by the GSM Association. SMS statistics  from Short Message Service (SMS) The Creation of Personal Global Text Messaging by Fred Hillebrand http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0470688653.html and also GSM and UMTS the creation of mobile communication” edited by Fred Hillebrand also John Wiley. For a range of images of cellular phones over the past twenty five years go to the Science Museum url below and type in Mobile Phone into the search window.  http://www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/Index.asp?clientinfo=0&image=&txtkeys1=&btnshow.x=&btnshow=&lstpasteboards= For information on engineering time lines in other industries visit www.engineering-timelines.com   Post event press coverage links - with thanks to EML cellular25@eml.com http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1588221/mobile-industry-celebrates-25th-anniversary-cellular http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1588185/science-museum-modern-communications-gallery http://www.itpro.co.uk/619708/t-mobile-and-orange-see-collaboration-as-mobile-industry-future http://www.nickhunn.com/index.php/archives/501http://blog.themda.org/?p=363http://3ginthehome.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/femtocells-at-cellular-25/http://www.newelectronics.co.uk/article/22085/Mobile-phones-25-years-on.aspx http://www.telecoms.com/17533/dinosaur-junior http://tmv3.edgeofmyseat.net/ukhotviews/archive/google-and-high-expectations http://www.telecomstatistics.com/tag/mobile-digital-dividend-m2m/ Event presentations Presentations made at the event are now available  at http://www.cambridgewireless.co.uk/resources/ Photographs taken at the event available from Wednesday 27th January http://cambridgewireless.co.uk/cellular25