GSM is 20 years old; when did you make your first call?

Pat Phelan, Mr Telecom himself, posted a note this morning highlighting the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).

Link: Global Mobile Communication is 20 years old at Roam4free

20 years ago today an agreement was signed in Copenhagen by 15 telecommunications operators from 13 countries that led to the development of the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), and a mobile communications industry that today serves more than 2.5 billion people across 218 countries and territories.

My first call (I think) was on a huge OKI phone in South London around 1990-1991, I have really racked my brains and I am convinced it was from a takeaway asking ‘my wife would she like something to eat”

I think there was a large queue and it was probably a bit of showing off.

Anyways in honour of this day, I would like to do a survey and hope you will pass this on.
I want to ask, What was your first phone, what was the year and whom did you first call?

I am going to ask and ask that they ask a few friends, lets find out who was first
Frederik from Jajah
Jeff Pulver
Moshe Maeir
Ken Camp from whom I got a Quechup invite today
Ewan

Well, unfortunately I have no poncy claim to be leading the pack here. I remember using a Panasonic handset which belonged to my dad when I was in Paris on a school trip (I had to check some computers had been delivered for a client). I remember the service being pretty snazzy in Europe — but really crap at that time in the UK. That was about 1993.

I went to University in 1996 and did my best to avoid buying a mobile phone for about six months. They were fast becoming all-the-rage and I really wanted to try and avoid being contactable at all hours.

Eventually I gave in and I purchased a cheap-as-chips T-Mobile handset — although at this time, handsets weren’t branded — so I was given some Nortel device.

I then swapped to BT Cellnet, I think. Then Vodafone. I stayed with Voda for ages until we parted company over a ridiculously high bill which I furiously settled.

Prompted by Pat’s question, I also went and updated my Mobile Phone History. I’m now on 40 handsets!