When did you first have a mobile phone?

[33056]

Can't remember the exact type but I got my first mobile from Orange in 1996, think the plan had all of 30 minutes talk time!

Some time before that I knew a train driver who was an early adopter of a mobile phone. On one occasion he worked a train down to Westbury overnight and had to "pass" back on the up "Golden Hind" which was usually filled with "yuppie" types who worked in the city.

During the journey his mobile started ringing but as it was in his bag / coat on the luggage rack and he was dozing he let it ring. Apparently it was rather amusing to watch all the smartly dressed city types look round accusingly at each other but not at the driver (dressed in uniform) snoozing in his seat.

It wasn't long after I got my first mobile that the company I worked for at the time decided to issue all their drivers with company mobiles.

 

[GusB]

There was a point where Orange would allow two different tariffs on the same handset. I'm sure my dad had two different numbers tied to the same SIM. He had the Everyday 50 for off-peak calls and another one to handle peak calls.
Conversely, Vodafone used to offer multi-sim where you had a single mobile number, but it could be used to contact multiple devices. Those tariffs were an absolute nightmare to set up and usually required assistance from a specialist back-office team.

 

[Crossover]

I was working for Vodafone customer services when the K750i came out, and it had one of the best phone cameras going at the time. It, together with the Nokia 6230/6230i were the two most popular phones.

Yes, the camera on the k750i was very good for its time. Of course, it also had the button on the side so you could turn it and use it in the same way as a camera as well

 

[nlogax]

Yes, the camera on the k750i was very good for its time. Of course, it also had the button on the side so you could turn it and use it in the same way as a camera as well

Still have my old K750i in a drawer somewhere alongside its predecessor, the T610. Loved it so much I even ported its alert sounds to my current Android phone.

 

[gswindale]

1999 with a Motorola Cd930 I think on BT cellnet

Start of 2nd year at uni and originally no plans to have a landline on the house we were renting ( the internet put a stop to that!)

Stuck with cellnet for a couple of years until moving in with my now wife who was on orange and switched so we were both on the same network for cheaper calls.

 

[PeterY]

I think I got my phone somewhere around early 2000. By today's standards it was quite expensive to make calls and £10 credit didn't last long. texts were 12p each.
Although I've changed providers twice, I've kept my original number that I got from day 1. I must admit I do feel rather attached to my number.

 

[Alex 2901]

I can remember when i first got a mobile phone (early 2011), but I'll be damned if i can remember what model it was. It wasn't a very expensive one (i think it was about 30 pounds from Argos, which was probably for the best, as i managed to lose it within 6 months), but it was on Orange.

First one i properly remember was an Orange Rio (looked like a BlackBerry, but Orange branded, with a few minor cosmetic differences) which i got to replace my lost phone, and kept till 2013, when i got my first smartphone (an iPhone lookalike, that I'm not even sure on the make of, even now)

Even now, i still keep all of my old phones (There's 5, of which only one doesn't actually work, thanks to a defective IOS update)

 

[Jamesrob637]

I think I got my phone somewhere around early 2000. By today's standards it was quite expensive to make calls and £10 credit didn't last long. texts were 12p each.
Although I've changed providers twice, I've kept my original number that I got from day 1. I must admit I do feel rather attached to my number.

No point changing it nowadays especially when you can switch networks on the same number. Everybody knows it and it's such a faff having to text everybody a new number.

Disclaimer: I've had mine since 2002.

 

[Bletchleyite]

No point changing it nowadays especially when you can switch networks on the same number. Everybody knows it and it's such a faff having to text everybody a new number.

Disclaimer: I've had mine since 2002.

I take your 2002 and raise you 2000!

 

[Jamesrob637]

I take your 2002 and raise you 2000!

You're a bit older than me in fairness so I win on relative terms

 

[ainsworth74]

Disclaimer: I've had mine since 2002.

I take your 2002 and raise you 2000!

Another one here with the same number from the start and also dating from around 2000/2001! Also means I'm one of the few people it seems who has actually memorised their number!!

 

[Bletchleyite]

You're a bit older than me in fairness so I win on relative terms

It does surprise me how many people seem to change their number by the minutes when retaining it is now almost as easy as not doing!

Another one here with the same number from the start and also dating from around 2000/2001! Also means I'm one of the few people it seems who has actually memorised their number!!

I have too. I don't think you could go back much further, the number I had when I first got one in 1998 was an 04xx number, and I doubt you could keep those (unless they just got changed en-masse to 074xx, possibly?)

 

[Richard Scott]

Would've been around 2003, standard Motorola brick. First time I ever saw a mobile was on an Oxford to Paddington train in 1989. Was mk 1 compo stock with 50033, still in large logo livery, business man came into compo with what I thought it was a briefcase, opened it up and had a phone and proceeded to make a call. Not sure what happened but as was first comp behind loco doubt he heard much!!!

 

[Bald Rick]

I take your 2002 and raise you 2000!

I take your 2000, and raise you 1998.

 

[DelayRepay]

My dad was an early adaptor and had a huge brick of a mobile phone. I remember using it on holidays when I was a teenager so would probably have been about 1995 ish.

The main thing I remember was driving miles while we were on holiday to get a signal so we could ring my granddad.

In 1996 my dad bought a PAYG mobile on Orange for me and my sister to share. The idea was we would take it out for use in emergencies. That did not last long when my sister used the whole £10 credit on the first day calling her friends. As a result I bought my own mobile - also PAYG - and £10 credit would last me a month! My mum still has that 1996 mobile. She doesn't like throwing things away and is convinced it might be useful 'as a spare'!

 

[dgl]

I did love the call to 02 when I switched from PAYG to a cheap Plusnet monthly contract, they naturally tried to make me stay until they asked me what deal I was getting with PN, they went a bit quiet after that! less for at least twice the price.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I got my first mobile in 2003. It was my partners old Nokia phone so she could "keep in touch with me" .
To this day I'm still PAYG and struggle to spend £10 a month thanks to my deal with O2. I get a phone call or text every other month offering me different contracts which probably favour them better but I decline them.

 

[Jimini]

1996 for me (I was the Saturday lad in a Phones 4u store at the time). Phillips Fizz handset, £16.99 per month with -- wait for it -- 15 minutes of inclusive minutes Phone number was 0467 603503. People used to pay £100 for a more memorable phone number such as that but we got them gratis as members of staff! Back in those days, most phone shop chains only offered one network as I recall. We were Vodafone, Link (remember them?) were Cellnet (now o2) etc. You could tell what network someone was on my the 'dialling code' back in those days too.

 

[Bantamzen]

1998, when as a naive young adult I entered into a contract with Phones 4U for this very model of Panasonic phone. Phones 4U were fairly young at the time as well, how things changed in the mobile phone world as we entered the new millennium!

View attachment 83264

I had the same phone for my first one. Just thought it looked great!

 

[Vespa]

Think it was 1998 Sagem 820, brought at Woolworths for £50 with £10 PAYG credit.
Tiny screen for texting.

Later moved on to Nokia 3330, fantastic battery life, bigger screen and games.

 

[VauxhallandI]

About 94, it was on Orange or Hutchison network. I bought it from an add in a newspaper!

I remember buying my girlfriend a pager in about 97

 

[JohnMcL7]

There was a point where Orange would allow two different tariffs on the same handset. I'm sure my dad had two different numbers tied to the same SIM. He had the Everyday 50 for off-peak calls and another one to handle peak calls.
Conversely, Vodafone used to offer multi-sim where you had a single mobile number, but it could be used to contact multiple devices. Those tariffs were an absolute nightmare to set up and usually required assistance from a specialist back-office team.

You're right, Orange and One 2 One had slightly different networks on 1800Mhz which I think was called PCN? It allowed features like the second line and a voicemail symbol I think, I used to spend hours on the uk.telecom.mobile newsgroup at the time as I was fascinated by all the different technologies. On one hand I was thinking I miss those days when there was so much variety with phones but on the other hand I certainly don't miss having to carefully choose a tariff balancing peak minutes, off peak minutes, cross-network calls, texts, etc.

 

[Bletchleyite]

You're right, Orange and One 2 One had slightly different networks on 1800Mhz which I think was called PCN? It allowed features like the second line and a voicemail symbol I think, I used to spend hours on the uk.telecom.mobile newsgroup at the time as I was fascinated by all the different technologies. On one hand I was thinking I miss those days when there was so much variety with phones but on the other hand I certainly don't miss having to carefully choose a tariff balancing peak minutes, off peak minutes, cross-network calls, texts, etc.

You could probably say tech fits that in general, really. Tech was a much more interesting thing when it was still developing fast and limited in what it could do, but it's much easier to actually use it as a tool these days.

 

[david1212]

Work Motorola C520 on Orange - 12 month upfront package of 15 mins calls to Orange or Landline. Issued primarily so could be contacted hence could only use for a very brief personal call. The C520 was introduced in 1998 so at a guess later in 1998 or 1999.

Personal Motorola 3788 on One2One ( T-mobile ) - 18 month upfront package of 30 mins calls to One2One or Landline. End of Line from Boots for £20. I bought two and used one as a Christmas gift. Could have been 2000 or 2001. I've still got the number on PAYG.

Coverage of each network varied. Work chose Orange as best for base and overall places visited.
One2one was certainly poorer.

 

[MattA7]

2014 I can remember the exact model but it was a LG