30 years to the day - first mobile phone call

[davieG]

Thirty years ago, just before midnight on New Year's Eve, Michael Harrison slipped away from his family's party at home in Surrey and was driven to Parliament Square.

There, he made history - by making Britain's first mobile phone call to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, the chairman of a new firm called Racal Vodafone.

Vodafone was one of two firms given a licence to operate a new cellular phone network - and it was in a race to beat its rival BT Cellnet to get up and running first.

It succeeded - Cellnet's first call came a few weeks into 1985.

 

 

Some thing like this

 

 

 

 

 

[jonthefox]

Vodafone on New Year's Eve?. I bet he couldn't get a signal.

[Vacamion]

My first mobile was 1994.

It weighed a ton, fried my head and cost a bomb to use. I only got reception in certain parts of Edinburgh City Centre.

I got rid after the contract was up and it put me off mobiles until 1999, by which time everyone had one.

Wish I'd kept the handset, could give it to a museum.

[AoWW]

So they've had 30 years to sort it out and I still can't get any reception, from any network, at home.

[Rincewind]

I still have a Vodaphone.All you could do was make calls on it.

[jonthefox]

I still have a Vodaphone.All you could do was make calls on it.

 

 

Could be worth a few £ ken.