Talk:Mobile phone

Bad explanation of frequency reuse

This article omits explaining that the entire reason cellular technology was developed was frequency reuse. The Infrastructure section says at the top "Each cell uses a different set of frequencies from neighboring cells" and doesn't make clear that nonadjacent cells reuse frequencies, only mentioning this at the end. It doesn't mention the overcrowded radio spectrum and that there is not enough bandwidth in the entire mobile band to give each phone in a medium sized town its own frequencies, much less an entire country. In the mobile phone systems before the advent of cellular, callers often had to wait until one of the limited number of channels was free to make a call. The amateurish example at the bottom "one uses frequency 1–500, next door cell uses frequency 501–1,000" doesn't explain how many channels an actual cell phone system is assigned. The text doesn't make clear that the cell tower transmitters have low enough power that the radio waves don't interfere with nearby cells using the same frequencies. --Chetvorno^TALK 05:56, 25 January 2023 (UTC)

The first cellphone

The first cellphone information is incorrect and says that it was introduced in 1973 and that's wrong. I have an article showing Mansfield Telephone Co. had a prototype in 1963, it would not allow me to edit it. ~*Brandi*Marie*~ 03:55, 16 April 2023 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Brandimarie1985 (talk • contribs)

Wiki Education assignment: ENG 1

This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 14 August 2023 and 15 December 2023. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Isaacmtzr, SirSwan789 (article contribs).

— Assignment last updated by Coffeestudy7 (talk) 20:42, 27 September 2023 (UTC)

"Mobile phone (or cellphone)"

As confirmed in the article, these are not synonyms. Grassynoel (talk) 11:20, 12 February 2024 (UTC)

Are there still a lot of mobile phones that aren't cellular? --Wtshymanski (talk) 17:36, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

More information needed

" The growth in popularity has been rapid in some places, for example, in the UK, the total number of mobile phones overtook the number of houses in 1999. Today, mobile phones are globally ubiquitous, and in almost half the world's countries, over 90% of the population owns at least one. " - It would be nice to have more detail on this. Also, is >90% even really correct? Or is it >90% of those people over age X ? Considering that 5.6% of the US population is under five (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/RHI125222), I find it improbable that the >90% figure is correct. Kdammers (talk) 21:31, 22 April 2024 (UTC)

Clarification on Recent Edits to the Mobile Phone Wikipedia Page

Hi @MrOllie,

I hope you’re doing well! I noticed that you reverted my edits to the Mobile Phone Wikipedia page, and I wanted to touch base with you. I’m a bit curious about how my edits might have contradicted the existing content. I was excited to add some details about a mobile phone created by Millicom, and E.F. Johnson & Co. I want to make sure my contributions are helpful and accurate. Thanks so much for your time! I really appreciate your feedback and look forward to hearing from you.

Best,

@Sarahparker9 Sarahparker9 (talk) 17:12, 7 February 2025 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 17 June 2025

In this phrase:

obtaining a subscribers phone number

Please place an apostrophe in subscribers, making it subscriber's. 203.13.77.247 (talk) 06:03, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

 Done, thanks. DrOrinScrivello (talk) 14:34, 17 June 2025 (UTC)

Validity of claimed usage numbers in 2018

Paragraph 10 states "In 2018, the GSM was used by over 5 billion people in over 220 countries." The world population in 2018 was just under 7.7 billion, meaning if this claim was correct, almost 2 out of 3 humans on the planet including babies, children, early teenagers, the elderly and people in poorer demographics or 3rd world countries would have to use a mobile phone. I find it hard to believe that high a percentage of the global population used a mobile phone back in 2018. It would be appropriate for whomever made that claim to back it up with factual reference(s). 117.20.67.111 (talk) 05:23, 29 August 2025 (UTC)

Missing much of the pre hand held history, car mounted history

I feel the article is 1980s and onward bias. Need expansion of 1940s- , particularly car mounted use for shipping and receiving. cooljuno411 15:40, 4 November 2025 (UTC)

Talk:Mobile phone#c-Cooljuno411-20251104154000-Missing much of the pre hand held history, car mounted history

==Early Mobile Telephone Service (1940s–1970s)==

Before handheld cellular phones existed, mobile voice communication was limited to **car-mounted radio-telephone systems** that connected to the **Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)**. The first of these systems, known as the **Mobile Telephone Service (MTS)**, was introduced by the **Bell System** on **June 17, 1946**, in **St. Louis, Missouri**, by **Southwestern Bell Telephone Company**.

MTS allowed drivers and dispatchers to make and receive telephone calls from moving vehicles using **VHF (Very High Frequency)** radio channels. The equipment—typically installed in automobiles, trucks, and service vehicles—consisted of a transmitter, receiver, and control handset mounted inside the car, with a roof-mounted antenna. Early units weighed about **80 pounds (36 kg)** and occupied a significant portion of the vehicle’s trunk.

The service was **operator-assisted** in both directions. To place a call, the driver pressed a push-to-talk button to contact a mobile operator, who manually connected the call to a landline number. Incoming calls were routed the same way: a caller on the regular telephone network would reach a mobile operator, who then radioed the vehicle and completed the connection.

Initially, only **three radio channels** were available per metropolitan area, so just a few simultaneous calls could occur at once. As the system expanded, additional frequency bands were licensed, bringing the total to about **32 channels** nationwide.

To address congestion and improve ease of use, Bell introduced the **Improved Mobile Telephone Service (IMTS)** in **1964**, which enabled **direct-dialing without operator assistance** and provided clearer, higher-fidelity connections. Both MTS and IMTS remained in service in some regions into the **1980s**, when they were gradually phased out by **cellular networks** beginning in **1983**.

==In media==

The Bell System educational film *Mobile Telephones* (late 1940s) demonstrates MTS in action, showing car-mounted units used by truck drivers and dispatchers, as well as the operation of base stations and operator-assisted call routing. cooljuno411 15:51, 4 November 2025 (UTC)