Posted by Franz [209.86.226.27] on Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 15:41:47 :
In Reply to: Mobile Phone? ntx posted by gmharris [72.219.148.98] on Saturday, March 22, 2014 at 13:49:55 :
MTS service began in the 50s. 1 or 2 vhf channels in large cities.
You sat there saying Mobil Operator till fat Bertha got around to answering up, then if she felt like it she connected you.
At least it was full duplex rather than phone patches that required Bertha to switch parties back & forth.
Then came IMTS service, 13 channels with a rotary dial right there on the control head in the vehicle, at 35¢ per minute of talk time.
110 watts of RF and a tower book would let you call from the vehicle across 90% of the country.
The scourge of telephone service and mankind didn't arrive until the mid 80s.
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