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1980
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The
most advanced mobile phone system in the world
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But the
major breakthrough for mobile telephony came first with the arrival
of NMT. The specifications for NMT broke new ground and the most important
demands for the system were: Work with the programming of the Nordic mobile phone network at the Telecom Administration's Radio Laboratory. |
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Collaboration
with Siemens, Motorola, Mitsubishi, Ericsson and Nokia
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The open
specifications meant that anyone could supply equipment and software,
and also that the system could be used freely by other operators outside
the Nordic region. The Telecom Administrations wanted to use a digital
AXE exchange from Ericsson for the NMT system. AXE exchange is both
electronic and computer controlled, but the outstanding feature is the
wide area of use. This flexibility made it possible to develop it as
an exchange for the mobile system MTX. The first AXE exchange is opened in Ulriksdal 1980. |
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NMT
in Saudi Arabia two months before Sweden
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In 1977
Ericsson received an order for AXE exchanges for Saudi Arabia's new
telephone network. The Saudis then also chose NMT for their mobile network.
In October 1981, two months after NMT started in Saudi Arabia, NMT made
its debut in Sweden and immediately afterwards in the rest of the Nordic
region. The fact that our Nordic lead was substantial is illustrated
by the sales figures for 1982: Of all the mobile phones sold in the
world in 1982, 70 per cent of them were sold here in the Nordic region!
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| The handheld mobile phone at last a reality | |
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NMT´s rapid growth created problems in the high customer-density metropolitan areas. Therefore the Telecom Administration introduced a system in Stockholm using small cell technology. This involve more and smaller transmitters, but in a denser system. A new system
with frequencies around 900 MHz was introduced in 1986, NMT 900. In
the beginning the system was only found in the larger cities and towns
in Sweden, and due to the poor coverage, the influx of new customers
was also poor. As the system was designed for pocket-size mobile phones,
the Telecom Administration wanted to create a demand for NMT 900 and
the manufactures to increase production. |
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| Comvik a competitor in the telephone market | |
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Wikanders Ur & Optik in Jönköping applied in 1964 to act as "local intermediary" in several places. By renting telephone cables from the Telecom Administation Wikander was able to offer subscription to a private mobile phone network to the public, covering a large part of Southern Sweden. Nordiska Mobiltelefonväxeln, Tele-Larm, Företagstelefon were the names of other entrepreneurs. At the end of the 70s they had a total of 1 900 subscribers. Comvik was established in Sweden through the purchase of Företagstelefon and launched a new automatic system with American equipment. The Telecom Administration was annoyed by the newcomer Comvik. In 1982 the Telecom Administration put an advert in the papers with 15 questions to show Comvik's shortcomings, particularly concerning the coverage area. The advert was reported and the court found it to be too negative to Comvik. To protect the telephone network against interference and to promote a rational use of frequencies the Telecom Administration followed a strict policy. Comvik complained about this to the government and even went straight to the politicians and offered work opportunities to get frequencies. A new authority, Statens telenämnd, took over the responsibility of issuing frequencies in 1990. This is now called The National Post & Telecom Agency. |
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| NMT gets into the world | |
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When the Netherlands implemented their new mobile network in 1982 they wanted to buy the mobile exchanges from Ericsson but the base transceiver stations from Motorola. Åke Lundquist at SRA, a company owned by Ericsson, gave them the choice between buying also the transceivers from them or nothing at all. Ericsson got this important contract. This opened the eyes of the world to the NMT system. During the 1980s Ericsson installed the NMT system in many countries. At the same time Ericsson was established on the American market and had 35 per cent in 1988. During the 1980s Ericsson developed mobile networks for all standards. |
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| SRA, Swedish Radio AB | |
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SRA, Svenska Radio AB [Swedish Radio], was founded in 1919 by Ericsson as co-owner with others. The company manufactured ship radios, radios for police and for taxis, as well as radios and TVs with the brand name of Radiola. Mobile telephones started to be part of SRA's business activities in the 1970's. The company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Ericsson in 1983.
SRA delivers radio receivers during the Second World War. |
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| Research about digital radio technology | |
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In 1977 the SRA took the initiative to an increased collaboration between different universities of technology, SRA and the Telecom Administration to train more researchers and engineers within digital radio technology. SRA gave annual contributions to this research. This research started much earlier than in other countries and led to system solutions and trial systems that influenced the development of the GSM-system |
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Responsible:
Anita Kempe
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