The history of telephony is interesting both in the aspect of the invention of various devices, and in terms of the stages of deployment of communication networks of various types around the world. In some aspects, the dynamics of the dissemination of relevant technologies seems revolutionary, in others it is characterized by progressive uniform development. What are the most noteworthy facts regarding the global telephony industry?
Who invented the phone?
Traditionally, the history of the telephone is associated with the name of Alexander Bell, an American inventor of Scottish descent. Indeed, the famous researcher took a direct part in the development of a revolutionary apparatus for transmitting sounds at a distance. However, facts are known that other designers played a crucial role in creating the phone. For example, Johann Philipp Reis, a well-known German inventor, at a meeting of scientists of the Physical Community held in 1861, announced the prototype of an electric device for transmitting sound at a distance. The name of the invention, “telephone,” familiar to us today, also sounded. Reis contemporaries, however, the device was perceived without due enthusiasm. But this is the most important fact that the history of the creation of the phone has.
After 15 years, two American researchers, Elisha Gray and Alexander Bell, acting independently, discovered the effect of telephony. Both scientists, interestingly, on the same day, namely February 14, 1876, applied for patenting their discovery. At the same time, they have not yet developed an operating apparatus that would involve telephony. Presumably, Bell is about 2 hours ahead of Gray in filing an application, and many historians attribute this fact to the fact that the history of the creation of the phone today is associated with the name of an American inventor.
The appearance of the first phone
Alexander Bell lived in Boston and worked with people with hearing and speech problems. In 1873, he became a professor of physiology at Boston University. By the nature of his activity, he was probably an expert in the field of acoustics and had excellent hearing.
The story of the first telephone created by Alexander Bell is thus related to his work. Among the noteworthy facts related to the invention of the device is the telephony effect discovered by the researcher with the direct assistance of his assistant. So, a specialist working with Bell once pulled out a plate from a transmitter that seemed to Bell to make some rattling. As the researcher later found out, this was due to the fact that the element periodically closed the electrical contacts.
Based on the revealed effect, Alexander Bell created a telephone. It was built very simply: like a membrane made of leather, equipped with a signal element to increase the sound volume. The device could transmit only the sound of a voice, but this, apparently, was enough to patent the device - Bell received the corresponding document fixing the authorship of the invention on March 10, 1876.
The history of phones is also interesting in the aspect of their commercial operation. A few days later, the inventor modified the phone so that it could transmit clearly audible individual words. Alexander Bell later showed his device to the business community. The device made an incredible impression on business people. The American inventor soon registered his company, which later became prosperous.
First telephone lines
The history of the appearance of the phone is now known to us. But how was Bell's invention introduced into everyday life? In 1877, also in Boston, the first telephone line was launched, and in 1878, in New Haven, a telephone exchange. In the same year, another famous American inventor, Thomas Edison, created a new model of a device for transmitting voice from a distance. An induction coil was present in its design, which allowed to significantly improve the quality of communication, as well as increase the distance of sound transmission.
Contribution of inventors from Russia
The history of the development of the phone is also associated with the names of Russian designers. In 1885, Pavel Mikhailovich Golubitsky, an inventor from Russia, developed a fundamentally new scheme of the telephone exchange, in which power was supplied to the devices from the outside - from a central source. Prior to this, each phone worked from its own electrical outlet. This concept made it possible to create stations simultaneously serving a huge number of subscribers - tens of thousands. In 1895, Russian inventor Mikhail Filippovich Freidenberg proposed to the world the concept of automatic telephone exchange, which involves the automatic connection of one subscriber with another. The first active telephone exchange was introduced in the United States, in the city of Augusta.
Development of communication lines in Russia
The history of the appearance of the telephone in Russia is associated with the construction of a line for the transmission of communication between St. Petersburg and Malaya Vishera. The first conversation between Russian subscribers through this channel took place in 1879, that is, only 3 years after the invention of the telephone. Later, one of the first civilian communication lines connected Georgievskaya marina, located in Nizhny Novgorod, and apartments belonging to the management of the Druzhina shipping company. The length of the line was about 1547 m.
On a regular basis, city telephone exchanges - in St. Petersburg, Moscow, as well as in Odessa - began to function since 1882. In 1898, an intercity line appeared connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. The history of telephones in Russia is interesting in that the station that served the communication channel between Moscow and St. Petersburg exists and is still operating. It is located on Myasnitskaya Street in the capital of the Russian Federation.
The pace of telephony development in the Russian Empire was very decent - for example, by 1916, there were an average of 3.7 telephones per 100 residents of Moscow. In 1935, already under the USSR, all Belokamennaya metro stations were telephoned. Since 1953, all houses commissioned in the capital of the USSR should have had a telephone cable.
The history of phones is fascinating. It is always interesting to study its details. Having learned how wired phones appeared, we will consider the most remarkable facts regarding the development of mobile devices, which are no less demanded today than traditional ones.
How did mobile phones come about?
The first recorded telephone conversation through a radio channel, which, according to a number of key characteristics, corresponds to the principles of modern cellular communications, was held in 1950 in Sweden. Inventor Stuure Laugen, who was driving Televerket, successfully phoned the time service using the appropriate type of device. By that time, Stuure Lauren had worked for several years at Televerket, developing this device. The story of the creation of the mobile phone is also associated with the name of Ragnar Berglund, a colleague of Lauren.
The goal is mass market
By the time Lauren made the call, which we mentioned above, telephone radio communication as such was already in use, but it was available only to special services and military structures. Televerket set a goal - to create a device accessible to every citizen.
The Swedish development was launched in the mass market in 1956. At first, she worked only in two cities - Stockholm and Gothenburg. During 1956, only 26 subscribers connected to it, which was not surprising due to the high cost of the “mobile phone”, the cost of which was comparable to the price of a car.
Mobile Development
The history of the development of mobile phones in several ways is inferior to the dynamics of the distribution of telephone communications. If, for example, already after 3 years, devices created according to the principles of Alexander Bell were actively operated in Russia, then for quite a long time mobile phones were not in great demand.
Only in 1969, world leaders in the telecommunications market began to think that it would be nice to somehow unify the corresponding communication systems. So, for example, it was assumed that each subscriber - like the owners of landline phones - will have his own number, moreover, relevant not only in the country where he is registered, but also abroad. Thus, we can note that the history of a mobile phone actually from the very beginning reflects the interest of engineering communities in implementing roaming concepts.
Among the first inventors who proposed the practical implementation of the technology for which the relevant requests were formed is Esten Myakitolo, a graduate of the Stockholm technical school. The history of the creation of a mobile phone in the form familiar to us is directly related to its name. However, the practical implementation of the Myakitolo concept required very powerful technologies. They appeared only in the early 80s.
First cellular network
The history of cell phones includes a noteworthy fact: Saudi Arabia was the first country to deploy a cellular network . It was there that Ericsson, which actively participated in the practical implementation of the concepts proposed by Myakitolo, in 1981 entered into a contract for the supply of relevant services. The network launched in Saudi Arabia was characterized by the main criterion - mass. Gradually, mobile communication standards improved, networks began to function in other countries of the world.
Development of common standards
With the growth of the mobile communications market, the need arose to develop uniform standards for the provision of relevant services. In Saudi Arabia, in the countries of Scandinavia, in Benelux, the NMT concept became popular, in Germany the C-Netz system was used, in the UK, France, Italy their concepts were implemented.
GSM Appearance
To integrate the European mobile space, the GSM standard was created. It can be said that it has incorporated all the best from other “national” concepts, and therefore, although not without difficulties, it was adopted by the European technological community in 1986. But the first GSM network was introduced only in 1990 in Finland. Subsequently, this standard became the main one for Russian mobile providers.
The history of phones - both conventional and cellular - is incredibly fascinating. But no less interesting is how relevant technologies are developing. We’ll study how cellular lines have improved.
Mobile Market Development
In the first years after the introduction of GSM standards in consumer practice, the use of appropriate services was very expensive. But gradually, the devices needed to work with mobile networks fell in price and became truly massive. Phones improved, reduced in size. In 1996, Nokia introduced, in fact, one of the first smartphones - a device with which you could send mail, faxes, use the Internet. In the same year, Motorola's legendary StarTac book appeared.
Smartphones and Mobile Internet
In 1997, Philips released the Spark phone with a very large battery life - about 350 hours. In 1998, the Sharp PMC-1 Smartphone appeared with a touch screen. It was expected that he would be a direct competitor to the above-mentioned gadget from Nokia. In 1999, mobile operators began to introduce WAP technology, which made it easier for subscribers to access the mobile Internet. In 2000, the GPRS standard appeared, as well as UMTS - one of the main ones that are used in the architecture of 3G networks.
In 2009, the Swedish company TeliaSonera launched the world's first 4G network. Now it is considered the most modern and is actively implemented by operators around the world.
Phone prospects
What will be the next step in the development of the cellular industry? The history of the mobile phone indicates that effective revolutionary solutions can appear at any time. It may seem that the 4G standard is the limit of modern technology. It would seem that data transfer at a speed of tens of megabits, excellent communication quality - what could be a level higher?
However, the world's leading research laboratories continue to work actively in the field of improving mobile technology. Perhaps in the near future in the hands of any interested subscriber there will appear a device as sensational for a modern layman as was Bell's phone in the 70s of the 19th century, or the device by which Sture Lauren called from the car. And after a while, people will cease to be surprised at him. This dynamic technology industry is so dynamic.