TheEarlyHistoryofCellularTelephone.docVIP

THE EARLY HISTORY OF CELLULAR TELEPHONE Joel S. Engel I have been asked to write a piece on the early history of cellular telephone, as one who was a participant in the earliest system studies. As I will describe shortly, I do not use the phrase, “in at the beginning”, because there really is no identifiable beginning to the cellular concept. In 1967, I was assigned to a group at Bell Laboratories with responsibility for the switching systems for mobile telephone. At that time there was a mobile telephone service, but it was extremely limited. There were eleven channels in the 150 MHz band assigned to the wireline telephone companies, and a similar set of channels assigned to competitive radio common carriers. The system design consisted of a high power transmitter (and a receiver) mounted on the tallest building available at roughly the center of the desired coverage area. Nearby systems interfered with one another, and could not use the same channels. For example, Newark and Belle Meade, New Jersey, Hempstead, Long Island, and White Plains, New York, all interfered with Manhattan, and the eleven channels had to be distributed among them. As a result, only three channels could be assigned to Manhattan, allowing only three simultaneous telephone calls; all other attempts would be blocked. There were long waiting lists for service, but, even allowing for high blocking rates, not enough subscribers could be allowed on the system for it to be economically feasible. A second block of twelve channels was allocated, in the 450 MHz band, but, given the economics of the 150 MHz system, very few of the 450 MHz systems were deployed. The mobile radios also consumed significant battery power. There were some portable units, mounted in attache cases, but the unit was generally mounted in a vehicle and used its electric system. A common saying at the time, probably an exaggeration, was that if the vehicle engine broke down, and one used the mobile telephone to call f