Mobile communications - the whole world at your fingertips

As early as 1926, on the journey from Berlin to Hamburg rail passengers could use the train's mobile radio to place calls to the fixed network. But it was only in 1958 that Deutsche Bundespost set up the first public radio network with blanket coverage. The "A-network" car phones required to operate the system had to be installed in the car boot because of their size.

Deutsche Bundespost went on to install the "B-network" (1972 to 1994) on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Munich. Developments in transistor technology meant that devices were becoming smaller and lighter all the time. The "C-network" (1986 to 2002) represented a quantum leap in terms of technology: Voice transmission was still an analogue process, but signalling had become digital. A call could be forwarded automatically from one radio cell to the next. The downsizing of devices and a reduction in costs contributed towards the increasingly popularity of mobile systems.

The "mobile revolution" was launched at the beginning of the 1990s with the GSM standard for the new digital networks. Telekom (D1) and Mannesmann (D2) acquired the respective licences in Germany. In 1994, E-Plus secured a licence for the "E-network", followed in 1998 by Viag Intercom. These digital networks are compatible with each other, thus giving the green light to popular SMS and MMS data traffic. The year 2000 saw six German licences for the UMTS cellular networks auctioned to the tune of almost 50 billion Euros. The new devices offer a much higher transmission rate compared with GSM, with mobile terminals becoming mini computers in their own right. The number of data communications (engendered by sending and receiving e-mails and faxes, listening to the radio, watching videos, transmitting photos, surfing the net etc.) is increasing at an incredible rate.

 

The mobile is changing the way in which people communicate, not to mention their lifestyles in general. But while permanent accessibility can help people to feel integrated in a large group, it can also be seen as a burden. Rapid access to information is regarded as both a freedom and a strain. And the fears of harmful radiation which accompanied the introduction of mobile communications for the masses have yet to be laid to rest.
 

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