what was peoples first mobile phone

[Anonymous]

what was everybodys first mobile phones.

mine was a nokia 5110 on orange in 1999 or as they called it the nokia c402 

[Anonymous]

The BT Pearl 1G handset. Identical to the one I had. I apologise to the WWW for suggesting there wasn't a photo of one on it somewhere.

[Toby]

I've never seen that phone Cellnetboy, it must be a rare antique now

[Anonymous]

I vaguely remember it but which year it came out.

[Anonymous]

Yup and although it seemed quite small and cool compared to some of the contemporary bricks available just before it it would be bulky and heavy now.

That reminds me, it came with a "standard" battery which was actually okay endurance wise (considering the waves those things chucked out) but I also bought an optional heavy duty spare battery which was about twice the thickness and weight of the standard one but lasted for ages.

Sadly these beasts wouldn't work anymore. BT Cellnet closed down their 1G TACS network in October 2000. And of course 1G handsets didn't have SIM card so the handset came with the number. When I had mine, from 1993-94 it was before mobile numbers started 07xxx and I remember my prefix was 0850. For those lucky enough to be young enough not remember those fun 1G days, the mobile number prefixes ranged randomly from 0370 to 0976. When the 'Big Number Change' came in around 2000 depending what your prefix was depended what happened to it. Although I no longer had my 1G phone by then if I had kept that number the 0850 prefix was amended simply by having a 7 inserted so it became 07850 but some prefixes were quite radically changed.

The only thing that 1G lacked for me was texting. When texting started getting used around the late 1990s I couldn't believe how cool it was. In those days when you bought a 2G handset you had to then phone the network company up and ask them to "activate SMS messages".

[Anonymous]

Stuart,

I got mine in 1993, say August-ish or maybe September. It was a whole page Cellnet advert in the Independent newspaper which had a phone number which I then phoned from the phone box at the end of my street as I was living in digs with no house phone.

By 1994 they were giving away the model I had in a Radio Times Reader Offer so I am guessing either early 1993 or more likely 1992 it came out? It was certainly new enough to feature in the whole page advert in the Independent so it must have been a current model in mid-'93.

[Anonymous]

thanks for that, think that was when my mum got her first cellnet phone but not that model

[Anonymous]

I'm pretty sure this was my first phone

My favourite phone however was my Trium Geo, I felt very sophisticated extending the aerial and opening the flip when I got a call, because that's what all the people on TV did.

Although my Nokia 6110 comes a close second because I bought a flashing aerial from the market and I was the coolest on the block.

[perksie]

Flashing aerial, that was too cool!

[jonsie]

Strange how you remember things when someone gives you a nudge! I remember everybody ringinging each other in the streets at night just to watch the flashings aeriels

[Anonymous]

Had a red flash aerial on my old Nokia 5110, looked great