Published: April 06, 2008 12:31 am            

No longer a ‘luxury item’

Cell phones celebrate 35th anniversary

FAIRMONT — In New York City in 1973, Martin Cooper made the very first cell phone call. The DynaTAC portable cellular phone reached the market 10 years later.

April 3 marked the 35th anniversary of the initial cell phone call, and wireless technology has evolved tremendously over the years. The original mobile phones hardly seem like they’re in the same family as today’s cell phones, said Mike Minnis, NTELOS director of public relations.

Minnis described the early versions of cellular phones as big and bulky. He said people may remember the “infamous” bag phones that came in a big leather-type bag and plugged into a cigarette lighter. Another was the brick phone, which was about the size of a brick and had a slight curve to fit the user’s face.

This communications technology was initially so expensive that many consumers couldn’t afford to pay the high cost for the phone and the monthly service. The industry began to lower the cost of the phone to customers who signed a contract, Minnis said.

He said cell phones probably started to become more popular in the mid to late 1990s, and there was a huge growth curve by the early 2000s. Over the last four or five years, this growth has continued but not at as big of a pace.

Much of the increase in cell phone use has to do with parents providing these devices to their children for safety or simply for communication, Minnis said.

“It’s definitely becoming more and more of a necessity and not such a luxury item anymore,” he said.

When mobile phones first came out, they were simply a mechanism to talk and be accessible at more places, and they weren’t considered very stylish or cool. But today, cell phones have greater functionality and can reflect a person’s personality, Minnis said.

Cell phones are now equipped with high-quality cameras, Internet capabilities, music functions and GPS technology, he said. People can watch TV from their phone, browse the Web and download games.

“It’s become an entertainment tool,” Minnis said. “It’s just amazing the functionality that has been developed. As the phones have gotten smaller, the functionality has gotten greater.”

As people get busier and the pace of life seems to get faster, cell phones allow people to stay in touch with family and work, he said. In many places, mobile phones are starting to replace home phones. After college, some persons solely use a cell phone and don’t install a landline phone.

“It’s such a useful tool in so many ways,” Minnis said. “The wireless industry — it’s always looking for the next generation of technology to make phones more (convenient) for people.”

And users don’t just talk on their mobile phones — they also text. He said texting has changed the way that people, especially the younger generation, communicate.

Beth Gautier, spokesperson for AT&T, said text messaging has certainly evolved. Users became familiar with texting and saw that it was an easy way to get information quickly. For instance, a person can learn when a family member will be home for dinner by sending a text message. Texting is often used for communication between parents and children, she said.

In the third quarter of 2007, 24 billion texts were transmitted over AT&T’s network. That number jumped to 32 billion texts in the fourth quarter of 2007, Gautier said.

She said people are using their phones in different ways, such as to listen to music and check their calendar, local weather, sports and movie times. Fifty-eight percent of American adults have used their cell phones for non-voice activities like this.

Because of affordable prices and expanding wireless coverage, cell phones have become more accessible and reliable, she said.

Cell phones allow persons to make calls when away from home and access information that is important to them. In many ways, a wireless device can make life easier. Mobile phones are attractive for people looking to stay connected, Gautier said.

“Everybody’s got unique needs, and the devices are there to meet those needs,” she said. “We’re becoming more and more tapped into the Internet.”

The cell phone industry has made a lot of progress since the brick phone, Gautier said.

“We’ve come a long way,” she said. “I think it’s just going to get more exciting.”

Frank Jacquez, direct sales manager for U.S. Cellular’s mid-Atlantic market, said coverage was a challenge during the initial cell phone years.

“You could only use it in one little area of one little town,” Jacquez said. “Now the advancements are just moving right along with the size and the scope of the (technology).”

Today, mobile phones have been condensed to the size of a credit card and weigh ounces instead of pounds. They are packed with multiple capabilities and applications. As the wireless network and cell phones advance, it helps with productivity, he said.

People can choose ring tones, cases and colors to make their cell phones unique and to fit their personality.

“I almost see them as an extension of one’s self,” Jacquez said.

The original big, bulky and expensive mobile phones had limited range and capabilities, said Jack Pflanz, communications manager for Sprint Nextel. He believes the popularity of cell phones increased in the mid to late ’90s.

“Companies were making them smaller and more affordable with long-term contracts,” he said. “They have since become even smaller, more functional and more affordable. As the technology became more popular, carriers had to improve their networks to meet customer demand.”

Pflanz said cell phone technology has made the sound quality much better, and carriers have invested a considerable amount of money into their networks to improve coverage. Sprint invested more than $3.9 million dollars in its networks in West Virginia between 2006 and 2007. Wireless plans have also been improved to include unlimited minutes and other features for a set fee.

GPS applications on cell phones can track the location of children, employees and inventory, Pflanz said. The walkie-talkie feature can be used for communication between police and public safety organizations. Smartphone devices like the BlackBerry are another result of the evolution of cell phones.

“I absolutely think (cell phones) have become an essential tool for society,” he said. “They provide us with a way to communicate in case of emergency, operate our daily lives more efficiently and conduct business in a more mobile manner. They assist health care and public safety in keeping us safer and healthier and provide us with peace of mind.”

Laura Merritt, public relations manager for Verizon Wireless, said cell phones in the 1980s were traditionally seen as car phones because they were designed to be installed in vehicles. These phones cost close to $4,000. The units became more transportable, but they were still the size of a briefcase and very heavy.

“The price of the device alone plus the cumbersome nature of the device really limited the popularity of wireless phones back then to the people that could afford that type of thing,” she said.

Primarily business people used cell phones while they were traveling. Users generally paid 25 cents a minute for local calls, and long distance fees applied. Persons could easily spend hundreds of dollars making phone calls, Merritt said. Plus, roaming charges were added if persons went out of their calling area, which was normally fairly small. In the 1980s and early 1990s, people were careful and tried to only use their cell phone when necessary.

“There’s been a huge change in the way people use their cell phones and ultimately the way they view their cell phones,” she said.

According to CTIA, the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association, there were 33.8 million wireless subscribers in December 1995. By December 2007, the number of subscribers had jumped to 255 million. The association reported that 84 percent of the country’s population had cell phones as of December 2007, compared to 13 percent in December 1995.

Verizon Wireless saw its most significant growth in wireless subscribers between December 1995 and December 2000 when its number of users more than tripled. Merritt attributed this increase to the competition in the wireless industry and better networks so people could use their phones in more places. Cell phone plans with cost savings were introduced, and people began to use their wireless devices for long distance calls.

“Initially, wireless phones did pretty much what your landline did, which was make and receive phone calls,” she said. “Back in the early days, even such luxuries as caller ID and call waiting were extra. What the wireless phone has evolved into today is a mobile computer.”

Over the past few years, text messaging has grown exponentially, Merritt said. It took Verizon Wireless’ customers seven years — from 2000 to 2007 — to reach the milestone of 10 billion text messages per month. In the past eight months, the company’s customers have nearly doubled the amount of texts.

Also, there has been a blurring of the lines between the devices for business customers and regular consumers, she said. Consumers want to be able to check their e-mail when they’re away from home, and business users want features like a camera and TV access on their phone. As a result, a wide array of cell phone options are available.

“Now is a great time for wireless users because they can really pick and choose,” Merritt said. “They’re saving a lot of money.”

For many people, cell phones have become a vital tool for day-to-day activities and are an integral part of their lives, she said. Plus, cell phone companies are creating attractive features for the customer, such as unlimited calling plans and the ability to transfer a phone number to another carrier.

“The wireless industry is becoming more customer-friendly,” Merritt said. “We do what we can to keep our customers happy. It’s all about protecting our customers and making sure that customer satisfaction is there.”

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.

        

• Click to discuss this story with other readers on our forums.