Vodafone Group Plc 30th anniversary of first UK mobile phone call
December 31 2014 - 3:00AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMVOD
Vodafone Group Plc
31 December 2014
31 December 2014
Thirtieth anniversary of first UK mobile phone call
-- Britain's first-ever mobile phone call was made on Vodafone's UK network 30 years ago
-- Michael Harrison, the son of Vodafone's first Chairman, made the call on 1 January 1985
-- Thirty years later, Vodafone is an industry leader with 438
million customers, mobile operations in 26 countries and fixed
broadband operations in 17 countries
Britain's first-ever mobile phone call was made 30 years ago on
the newly-launched Vodafone network. Michael Harrison, the son of
former Vodafone Chairman Sir Ernest Harrison, was the first to test
the system, calling his father at midnight on 1 January, 1985.
Michael Harrison secretly left his family's New Year's Eve party
at their home in Surrey in the UK to surprise his father, calling
him from London's Parliament Square. Harrison made the historic
call from one of the first mobile devices - a Transportable
Vodafone VT1, which weighed 11lb (5kg) and had around 30-minutes of
talk time. Harrison recalls that the line was crystal clear,
although the excited shouting of New Year's Eve revellers in London
created considerable background noise.
As Sir Ernest Harrison answered the phone, Michael said: "Hi
Dad. It's Mike. This is the first-ever call made on a UK commercial
mobile network". At the other end of the line, champagne corks
popped and photographers captured the moment - the culmination of
three years of hard work since the bid was made to win the licence
in 1982.
Days later, a large crowd gathered at St Katherine's Dock in
London to watch comedian Ernie Wise make the first public mobile
phone call. Wise brought the same Transportable device to St
Katherine's Dock in London in a 19th century mail coach, using one
of the oldest forms of communications - sending a letter - to
highlight the speed and convenience of these new mobile phones.
Ernie Wise's call was received at the original Vodafone
headquarters, where a handful of employees were based in an office
above an Indian restaurant in Newbury, Berkshire.
For the first nine days of 1985, Vodafone was the only company
with a mobile network in the UK.
Heavy and cumbersome, the first generation of mobile phones were
sold in the UK from 1984 - before the first products were even
available and before the network was officially live. Such was the
demand for a fully portable, cellular phone that more than 2,000
orders had been taken by the Vodafone sales team before Michael
Harrison made his call from Parliament Square. By the end of 1985,
over 12,000 devices had been sold.
All were far from portable and cost around GBP2,000 - equivalent
to roughly GBP5,000 when taking the inflation rate in to account.
However, the early mobile phones symbolised a revolution in
communications and were instantly desired by the emerging 'yuppy'
set, whose love for the brick-like devices was documented in films
and TV shows, from Wall Street to Only Fools and Horses.
Ferrari-driving executives in the first wave of adverts
particularly appealed to this market. "You can be in when you're
out" declared full-page ads, created by advertising agency Saatchi
& Saatchi to run in every major British newspaper.
Thirty years later, Vodafone's technology, once favoured by a
select few, now plays a central role in the lives of more than 400
million people on every continent. Vodafone has become a global
pioneer in bringing the benefits of the mobile and digital
revolution to consumers and businesses across the world. An
innovator, Vodafone leads the industry in the development of
transformational technologies, from offering 4G services in 15
countries to providing services such as machine-to-machine (M2M)
technology and M-Pesa, the mobile payment service that provides
financial freedom to millions of people.
Vodafone's evolution is accelerating rapidly: in 2013, Vodafone
embarked upon Project Spring - the largest capital investment
programme in its history - committing around GBP19 billion over two
years to expand its networks and services across its major markets
in Europe, Asia and Africa.
Vodafone Group Chief Commercial and Operations Officer Paolo
Bertoluzzo said: "At launch, the founders of Vodafone targeted
British 'business executives, sales representatives, journalists,
doctors and veterinary surgeons'. Thirty years later, Vodafone's
customers range from young people in Europe, India and Africa
through to the world's largest multinational businesses. While our
business has changed beyond all recognition over the last three
decades, our goal and purpose haven't: to continue to empower our
customers, whoever and wherever they are, through connectivity, as
mobile, broadband and digital transform society in ways
unimaginable in the 1980s".
Vodafone is asking people to share their memories of getting
their first mobile phone and making their first mobile call, using
the hashtags #myfirstmobile and #30yearsVodafone.
- ends -
For further information:
Vodafone Group
Media Relations
www.vodafone.com/media/contact
About Vodafone
Vodafone is one of the world's largest telecommunications
companies and provides a range of services including voice,
messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone has mobile
operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 55
more, and fixed broadband operations in 17 markets. As of 30
September 2014, Vodafone had 438 million mobile customers and 11
million fixed broadband customers. For more information, please
visit: www.vodafone.com.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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