The Unplug Story
From coining the term and filing the patents to realizing and planning the future - Mobile Broadband has been an incredible journey. But before we address the future, we need to consult the past. In six video episodes and the timeline below we take a look at where we’ve been:
The Early Years
Spectrum Standards
A conference in Malaga-Torremolinos decided which frequency bands should be used for the third generation of mobile communication systems.
- A summary of UMTS frequencey bands (Wikipedia)
- The 1992 WARC report (External article)
- Online publications from WARC-92 (External article)
First Spam
Enter the spam. The first commercial ‘spam’ was sent out on 5th of March 1994. And came about when lawyers used bulk Usenet messages to advertise immigration laws. The event became known as the ‘Green Card Spam’.
- Canter & Siegel - the founders of spam (Wikipedia)
- The legal backlash (External article)
- Five years of spam (External article)
GPRS is Launched
3G is conceived. Often referred to as '2.5G' - GPRS provided the building blocks for the beginnings of 3G.
Netscape launches
Netscape, the world’s first commercial browser, was to become the Internet’s second coming. The need to send and receive mobile data was now apparent.
- A summary of Netscape (YouTube)
- The state of the Internet (YouTube)
- The beginning of the 'browser wars' (External article)
Research in Motion
Wireless emailing arrives. Using the Ericsson-developed Mobitex system, Research In Motion (better known as the Blackberry developer) launches the RIM-900, on a two-way paging and wireless email network device.
- A summary of RIM (Wikipedia)
- A summary of Blackberry (Wikipedia)
Initial 3G Testing
Ericsson gets the ball rolling. 3G testing begins in Stockholm.
- Ericsson 3G test-demo (YouTube)
Commercial 3G Tests Begin
3G arrives. Japanese mobile phone operator DoCoMo partners with Ericsson and Nokia for development of next-generation mobile communication systems.
- DoCoMo announces cooperation (External article)
- The beginnings of a 3G network (External article)
- UMTS Forum (External article)
PocketNet (CDPD) in the USA
AT&T releases PocketNet. One of the first commercial wireless web services.
- A summary of CDPD (Wikipedia)
3G Standards
A conference in Parise sets future standard for European 3G.
- Ericsson conference report (External article)
- First UMTS intellectual property (External article)
- Set standards for CDMA networks (External article)
WAP Launched
WAP 1.0 is launched. What begun as an internal project for Ericsson soon became a collaboration with Nokia, Motorola and Unwired planet. Designed for easy access and small screens.
- An explanation of WAP (YouTube)
- WAP Gateway launch (External article)
- WAP-guide for Stockholm Music Week (External article)
IMODE (NTT DOCOMO)
i-mode, a mobile internet service, is launched by NTT DoCoMo. Within 6 months it had attracted over a million users in Japan and by November 2008 it had 48 million Japanese users.
- i-mode history (External article)
Hype & Vision
Mobile Demonstration
The demo 3G-system makes its first breakthrough during the ITU telecom conference in Geneva from a news van.
- Ericsson and BBC demo 3G (External article)
Spectrum Licenses
3G spectrum licenses go to auction in the UK.
- UK Spectrum Licencing Agency (External article)
- PTS (Sweden) spectrum licensing (External article)
First Smartphone
Smartphones came to the party. Ericsson launches the R380 handset with touchscreen. It uses the GSM network and can access the Internet via WAP.
- A summary of Symbian OS (Wikipedia)
- R380 smartphone commercial (YouTube)
- R380 revealed to the world (External article)
- Ericsson R380 specifications (External article)
3G
3G arrives. A new 3G standard is presented.
- 3G is here and now presentation (Download)
- Presentation on 3G and bluetooth (Download)
DoCoMo 3G Test
DoCoMo is first over the line. Japan becomes the first country to launch 3G as DoCoMo begins service testing in Tokyo. Followed shortly after by Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya.
- DoCoMo's 3G investments (External article)
- Report on Japan's 3G launch (External article)
- DoCoMo's 3G tests' 'email hiccup' (External article)
- DoCoMo delays its 3G launch (External article)
Color Display
Color arrives. The first color display is released on the SonyEricsson T68 phone.
- T68 color display commercial (YouTube)
- Japanese T68 commercial (YouTube)
CDMA Launched
Canada announces the commercial deployment of cdma2000 1X.
- Report on the launch (External article)
Edge
EDGE pushed the envelope for 2G speed and coverage.
- A summary of EDGE (Wikipedia)
- EDGE announces wireless PC Card (External article)
Videotelephony
I see you. Mobile operator 3 launches a 3G video calling service in the UK.
- 3G video call service report (External article)
- A summary of videotelephony (Wikipedia)
Hard Times
Dotcom Bust
Tough times ahead as the dotcom bubble finally bursts.
- Report on the Dotcom collapse (External article)
- The Dot-Com Boom... And Burst (External article)
- The dip of 2003 (NASDAQ) (External article)
3G in Europe
3G hits Europe. Vodafone and 3 launch 3G serices in Europe.
- Report on 3G's launch in Italy (External article)
- 3G hits the UK (External article)
Baby Steps
Hybrid Phone
SonyEricsson releases hybrid phones. Integrated with Walkman and Cyber-Shot branding and technologies.
- A summary of SonyEricsson W800 (Wikipedia)
- Review of the W800 (External article)
HSPA Launch
Cingular launch HSPA networks in the US.
- HSPA tests successfully in the US (External article)
- Review of HSPA (External article)
Flat Rate
Flat rate arrives in Sweden. Telenor is the first operator to offer flat rates, followed soon after by Telia and 3 with similar offers.
- Flat rate raises ARPU - Germany (External article)
- Vodafone announces roaming tariff (External article)
Smartphone Return
Smartphone makes its second-coming.
- Apple announce the iPhone (YouTube)
- Review of the SonyEricsson P1 (External article)
- Review of the Nokia E90 (External article)
Kindle
Return of the bookworms. Amazon launches the Kindle tablet.
- Kindle goes on sale (External article)
- Kindle 'Friends' commercial (YouTube)
- Kindle eBooks surpasses print sales (External article)
Commercial Development of 4G Begins
Verizon announces plans to develop and deploy a commercial 4G network using LTE. This decision meant LTE would be the standard path for CDMA to 4G.
- Verizon selects LTE as 4G direction (External article)
Smartphone Mania
Smartphones spread like wildfire. Apple releases the iPhone and Google launches its android platform.
- Apple announces the iPhone 3G (YouTube)
- iPhone 'App' commercial (YouTube)
- Commercial introducing the iPhone 3G (YouTube)
- iPhone 3G announced worldwide (External article)
- AT&T announce the iPhone 3G (External article)
- Visual map of Android activations (YouTube)
- Google leaks release date (External article)
- The HTC Dream phone announced (External article)
Vision Becoming Reality
HSPA Speed Record
Pedal to the metal. Ericsson sets a new speed record for HSPA at a conference in Las Vegas, reaching 42Mbps.
- T-Mobile announce network speeds (External article)
- Network speed hit 168Mbps (External article)
- Ericsson demo 42Mbps at CTIA (External article)
First LTE Network
The world's first commercially available LTE network is introduced by TeliaSonera.
- High-speed network goes live (External article)
- A summary of iPad (Wikipedia)
- A summary of Tablet Computers (Wikipedia)
HSPA Evolution
Telstra launches the world's fastest broadband service.
- Launches in Australia (External article)
Tablets Return
Tablets make a second coming. Apple leads the way with the iPad taking an 85% slice of the market.
- A summary of Tablet Computers (Wikipedia)
- A summary of iPad (Wikipedia)
- Apple announces the iPad (YouTube)
- Apple dominates tablet market (External article)
Apps
With 12 million copies sold, and 30 million downloads of the free version - Angry Birds becomes one of the most popular games ever.
- Angry Birds in-game demo trailer (YouTube)
- Interview with Angry Birds CEO (External article)
HSPA Evolution Goes Dongle
With a theoretical download speed of 42MBps, 3 release the first HSPA Evolution dongle.
- HSPA Evolved dongle hits the UK (External article)
- HSDPA evolved reaches 21Mbp (External article)
500 Million Users
Facebook passes 500 million users. Twitter surpasses 200 million tweets per day.
- Report on Facebook's feat (Wikipedia)
- Facebook passes 600 million users (Wikipedia)
- Twitter hits 200 million daily tweets (External article)
/2010
/2011
New Business Models
The 3G appeal. Collaborations of major players with smaller web-based companies begin as the power of 3G is realized.
- Amazon launches Appstore (External article)
- Telia bundles Spotify with broadband (External article)
- Telenor bundles wimp (External article)
- Bing signs deal with Twitter (External article)