Some major firsts in the mobile telecommunications industry

1956 – TAT-1, the first transatlantic submarine cable, begins operating between the UK and USA.

1957 – The first artificial satellite, Sputnik, is launched by the USSR. The Space Race begins.

1958 – Jack Kilby at Texas Instruments in the USA produces the world’s first integrated circuit.

1962 – Telstar, the world’s first communication satellite, is launched in the USA.

1973 – Martin Cooper of Motorola (USA) makes the first call on a hand-portable cellular phone to his rival at Bell Labs.

1979 – NTT (Japan) launches a commercial car-phone service based on cellular technology – the world’s first.

1981 – The first European cellular system is launched by Comvik (Sweden), one month ahead of a similar launch by Televerket (later Telia).

1982 – First mobile networks launched in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Spain.

1983 – AT&T launches first US cellular system, in Chicago.

1984 – First mobile networks launched in Austria, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea and the UAE.

1985 – Racal Telecom (later Vodafone) launches the UK’s first cellular system.

1985 – First mobile networks launched in Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Netherlands, Oman, Tunisia and West Germany.

1986 – First mobile networks launched in Bahrain, Iceland, Israel, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey.

1987 – First mobile networks launched in Australia, China, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, New Zealand and Switzerland.

1988 – First mobile networks launched in Bahamas, Belgium, Cyprus, Macau, Mexico, Singapore, Taiwan and Venezuela.

1988 – TAT-8, the first optical transatlantic submarine cable, begins operating.

1989 – First mobile networks launched in Antigua & Barbuda, Argentina, Brunei, Chile, Costa Rica, Democratic Republic of Congo, Faroe Islands, Mauritius, Portugal and Sri Lanka.

1990 – First mobile networks launched in Barbados, Cayman Islands, Croatia, Grenada, Guatemala, Guernsey, Hungary, Jamaica, Malta, Pakistan, Peru, Qatar, St Christopher & Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent & the Grenadines.

1991 – World’s first GSM network launched on a trial basis in Finland.

1991 – First mobile networks launched in Anguilla, Bolivia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Philippines, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay.

1992 – First mobile networks launched in British Virgin Islands, Cambodia, Cuba, Gabon, Ghana, Greenland, Guyana, Laos, Lithuania, Paraguay, Poland, Senegal, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.

1993 – NordicTel (Sweden) launches world’s first commercial SMS service.

1993 – First mobile networks launched in Belarus, Belize, Bulgaria, Burundi, Ecuador, El Salvador, Gambia, Greece, Guinea, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Monaco, Monserrat, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Romania, Suriname and Ukraine.

1994 – IBM launches Simon, said to be the world’s first smartphone.

1994 – First mobile networks launched in Angola, Azerbaijan, Cameroon, Colombia, Dominica, Fiji, Haiti, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Tanzania, Turks & Caicos, US Virgin Islands and Vanuatu.

1995 – RPG Cellular launches India’s first mobile network, in Chennai.

1995 – Portugal Telecom launches the first European prepaid mobile tariff.

1995 – First mobile networks launched in Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Cyprus, French Polynesia, Georgia, Gibraltar, India, Jordan, Lebanon, Malawi, Namibia, New Caledonia, Reunion, Seychelles, Uganda and Zambia.

1996 – First mobile networks launched in Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Burkina-Faso, Cook Islands, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Guadeloupe, Honduras, Isle of Man, Lesotho, Libya, Macedonia, Maldives, Mali, Martinique, Mongolia, Montenegro, Niue, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Serbia, Tajikistan and Zimbabwe.

1997 – First mobile networks launched in Djibouti, Mozambique, Niger, Samoa, Togo and Turkmenistan.

1998 – First test call made on Iridium satellite network: USA Vice President Al Gore calls Gilbert Grosvenor, great-grandson of Alexander Graham Bell.

1998 – First mobile networks launched in Botswana, Cape Verde, French Guiana, Kiribati, Liechtenstein, Moldova, Rwanda and Swaziland.

1999 – First mobile networks launched in Ethiopia, Nepal and Palestine.

2000 – World’s first auction of 3G spectrum begins in the UK. This and subsequent auctions elsewhere in Europe extract €108bn from mobile operators to the detriment of entire European telecoms industry.

2000 – First mobile networks launched in Chad, Kosovo, Liberia, Mauritania, Palau, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Syria.

2001 – First mobile networks launched in Mayotte and Kurdistani North Iraq.

2002 – First mobile networks launched in Afghanistan, North Korea, Micronesia and Sao Tome & Principe.

2003 – First mobile networks launched in Bhutan, Comoros, East Timor and Iraq.

2004 – First mobile networks launched in Eritrea and Guinea-Bissau.

2005 – First mobile network launched in the Falkland Islands.

2007 – Apple launches iPhone.

2007 – First mobile networks launched in Aruba and Norfolk Island.

2009 – Brian Acton and Jan Koum found WhatsApp.

2009 – First mobile network launched in Tuvalu.

2012 – First mobile network launched in Ascension.

2015 – First mobile network launched in St Helena.

2019 – Facebook announces plans for cryptocurrency called Libra.

2019 – Amazon reveals more details about Project Kuiper ahead of widespread deployment.