The mobile phone, once seen as a fashion accessory, has been one of the fastest growing technologies and necessities in America to date. When the first mobile phone was released to the public in 1982, not many caught on to the fad, mainly because of the outrageous price and bulkiness of the first model. But times have changed since then and now this technology is not only a product that sixty percent of the world owns, but it is something you never leave your house without. [1]

The first fully automatic mobile phone system was called the Mobile Telephone System A, or commonly known as the MTA. This was developed by the Ericsson company and was commercially released only in Sweden much earlier than one might think; 1956. This was the first system of its kind, but the biggest problem and disadvantage of this prototype was that phone had a weight of ninety pounds. This became the main reason of why the prototype did not gain popularity. Later in 1965 the MTA evolved into the MTB or better known as the Mobile Network. This was an upgraded version that was now complete with transistors as well as DTMF signaling. (Dual-tone multi-frequency) [2] This model weighed significantly less than the MTA but it still weighed in around twenty-one pounds. Though this became somewhat popular among the public with around 150 customers when the company first started out, it was later shut down due to expensive costs and lack of interest with only 600 customers by 1983, eighteen years after its debut. Even though this failed in Sweden, it was soon picked up by companies in America who saw that the technology could eventually work and become a booming industry. [3]    

Mobile phones have advanced so much since their first prototype in Sweden in 1956. Today when one buys a mobile phone, they are not looking at if it can make a telephone call, but what else it can do. GPS, PDA, MP3 capabilities, still and video cameras; the possibilities are endless. This technology has not only transformed our world into one that is fully connected twenty-four hours a day/seven days a week, it is a technology that has made the twenty-first century completely different from any other in our history.[4]