What is 1G?
1G, also commonly known as the First Generation in Cellular Mobile Technology introduced the very first wireless phones.
Although they were bulky handheld devices and weighed a ton, the fact that people could hold them anywhere they went made the concern of their size a non-issue.
Those phones will be laughed at in comparison to today’s fancy techy ones but better 1G phones than its 0G predecessor.
1G OVERVIEW
The technology used was the Analog Radio Signals which was the telecommunications standard for the first 1G wireless mobile phones in the 80s.
The Analog signals transfer information at a maximum speed of 2.4Kbps (Kilobytes), which will be a frustratingly slow speed in our current world. Transmitted information was only limited to Voice calls.
Voice calls were modulated to a frequency of about 156Mhz (megahertz), which was done through FDMA (Frequency Division Multiple Access).
Though the frequency was very low, it allowed for a wider coverage area.
High latency, poor voice quality, high battery consumption plus substandard battery life all characterized the 1G technology, this forced loud noisy conversations during calls.
You could tell the experience was stressful and unsuccessful at the time.
Those days, 1G mobile phones were powered by a single Universal Network Standard called AMPS (Advance Mobile Phone System).
FAST FACTS AND FEATURES OF 1G
- In 1979, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in Japan launched the world’s first automated cellular network for commercial use and in 5 years became the first country to have a full wireless connection.
- In 1981, the Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT) introduced the first International Roaming in a cellular network in countries like Denmark, Norway, Finland, and Sweden.
- In 1983, Motorola DynaTac mobile phones were used in Chicago, USA, and then gradually, the rest of the world joined in experiencing the wireless world of Telecoms.
About ten years of testing the world of mobile technology led to the need for more advancement, the outcome was the 2G technology.