30 years on, UK's first mobile phone call

[maureenho]

UK's first mobile phone user remembers his call 30 years on

1 January 2015 Last updated at 00:34 GMT

Thirty years ago, just before midnight on New Year's Eve, Michael Harrison slipped away from his family's party at home in Surrey and was driven to Parliament Square.

There, he made history - by making Britain's first mobile phone call to his father Sir Ernest Harrison, the chairman of a new firm called Racal Vodafone.

Vodafone was one of two firms given a licence to operate a new cellular phone network - and it was in a race to beat its rival BT Cellnet to get up and running first.

It succeeded - Cellnet's first call came a few weeks into 1985.

In an exclusive interview, Michael Harrison recalls that historic moment to BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30430475

[wendy]

we found this really interesting, thank you
now look how we take it for granted

[annie]

go90

[Misspears]

This was my first mobile phone which I have kept