Thursday, February 23, 2012 - Telecoms
It has been 25 years since the first mobile phone was launched by Telstra, with the company acknowledging how much technology has come on throughout the decades.
The Walkabout TM was released on February 23 1987, weighing 0.75kg and costing $5,200.
Mike Wright, Telstra's executive director of networks and access technologies, pointed out that the ability to make calls on the go was quite revolutionary at the time.
However, consumers are now able to compare phone plans and see their handsets as important as their keys and wallet.
"Prior to the launch of Telecom's 'Analogue Network' and the 'Explorer' range of phones in 1987, mobile phones had to be car mounted, fitted inside a heavy briefcase that plugged into a car's cigarette lighter socket or used with a mains power supply," explained Mr Wright.
Although this gave people a sense of freedom, they were nevertheless tied to 20 minutes of talk time and up to five hours of stand-by battery life.
Telstra has announced a number of improvements to its International Roaming Data Packs by increasing the number of countries they can be used in.
Posted by Eve Gillespie