In just 3 decades the humble mobile phone has come a long way…<\/p>\n
Coverage<\/strong> \u2013 in August 1981 the mobile network was limited to greater Melbourne (the service launched in Sydney in December 1981, Brisbane in 1983 and reached all Australian capital cities by 1985) \u2013 and today the Telstra mobile network covers 2.1 million square kilometers and reaches more than 99 per cent of the population. <\/p>\n Customer<\/strong>s \u2013 approximately 1300 customers in Sydney and Melbourne used the mobile network in its first year, compared to today where there are an estimated 22 million mobile phone services in Australia[1]. In 2010\/11 Telstra connected more than one million mobile services in just nine months.<\/p>\n Texts<\/strong> \u2013 in 1981 no one had heard of \u2019texting\u2019 whereas in 2009\/10 Telstra customers sent 9.4 billion text messages.<\/p>\n Mobile internet<\/strong> \u2013 in 1981 using a mobile network for internet access wasn\u2019t even imagined, now Telstra’s mobile broadband network supports over 10 million internet capable phones, tablets and data cards<\/p>\n Base stations<\/strong> \u2013 in 1981 there were three base stations in Melbourne and five base stations in Sydney, today there are more than 7,400 base stations across Australia.<\/p>\n Costs<\/strong> \u2013 in 1981 it cost $4995 plus a $350 installation fee to purchase a mobile phone compared to today where a customer can buy a phone from Telstra for less than $35 outright.<\/p>\n Take a look at this 1980 information video introducing Australia to Mobile phone technology.<\/p>\n