It’s been 50 years since inventor Marty Cooper made a first call on a mobile handset heralding a revolution that has changed our world.

Five decades later, the mobile phone has evolved from a large, clunky handset that could only make or receive calls, to a personal mobile computer with a previously unthinkable amount of power.

“We’ve had this incredible period over the last 50 years of technology, innovation and change,” said tech commentator and futurist Paul Spain.

From that first mobile call, GSMA Intelligence data shows the mobile industry has grown to 5.4 billion unique mobile subscribers as of end-2022 and is on track to hit 6.3 billion by 2030. There are also more than 8.4 billion SIM connections globally.

“It is the most prolific consumer electronics device in history and there are now more mobile phones than people on the planet.”
At the age of 94, Martin Cooper is a true legend and remains an extraordinary ambassador for the mobile technology he was so pivotal in developing. His passion, enthusiasm and optimism for technology as a force for good is to be admired.