Phone evolution

and revolution

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 Esther Cerdeño
IT Deputy Manager
MAPFRE RE
Madrid - Spain

Throughout its history, telephony has changed,

new ways of communication have been devised,
new models have been launched to meet the
constantly changing demands of society, and at
times, creating needs inconceivable up until then.

The first telephone device was invented at

the end of the 19th century. No one could
have imagined that phones would evolve so
remarkably and have such wide-reaching
effects 135 years later.

Telephone communication is part of our daily

life regardless of age, sex or social status. Land The first telephone
or cable lines have been further supplemented device was invented
by mobile phones, which are beginning to be at the end of
considered essential parts of personal and the 19th century.
business life. No one could
have imagined
Particularly striking is the rapid expansion of that phones
mobile phones in emerging economies and would evolve so
even in developing countries. In China, India remarkably and
and Brazil, mobile phone acceptance has been have such wide-
demonstrated beyond all doubt. Table 1 shows an reaching effects
increase of about 900% between 2000 and 2011. 135 years later

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 The real revolution For this phenomenon to take place, not only The evolution of mobile phones
got under way when was it necessary to create a device capable
fourth generation of performing multiple applications, it also Landlines are widespread throughout the
(4G) devices required the development of communication world, but with a clear downward trend. The
appeared with lines. There has been a progression from the first mobile phones appeared in the late
faster voice and initial use of cable line, through fibre optics 1940s, after the Second World War. They were
data transmission and satellite communication, to broadband very expensive, heavy and large, so they were
speeds, to become (Internet data transmission with a download generally used inside vehicles and only by a
vital social and speed of 5.76 Mb per second). This has limited number of people.
leisure attributes expanded throughout the world, and has
enabled communication without the need of In 1982 Bell Laboratories in the United States
cabling infrastructure, thus avoiding the high created the device now known as the first-
costs in countries with fewer resources. generation mobile phone (1G, analog voice)

Table 1: Number of mobile phones in use in Brazil, China and India 2000-2011
Source: http://www.itu.int/ict/statistics

2000 2001 2002 2009 2010 2011 2000-2011

Brazil 23,188,171 28,745,769 34,880,964 169,385,584 196,929,978 244,357,507 953.80%
China 85,260,000 144,820,000 206,005,000 747,214,000 859,003,000 986,253,000 1,056.76%
India 3,577,095 6,540,000 13,000,000 525,090,000 752,190,000 893,862,478 24,888.50%

Forty years ago, Martin Cooper, executive from Motorola made

the first call from a mobile. He made it at the Sixth Avenue, New
York, and was addressed to his major rival in the sector, Joel
Engel from Bell Labs, AT&T.

Cooper said: Do you know where am I calling you from?

The call was made though a prototype of Motorola. Its weight

was of 794 grammes and its size, 33 x 45 x 8.9 centimeters. It
needed ten hours to be charged and its battery only lasted for
half an hour. Its current price would be of 7,200 euros.
Martin Cooper’s current picture, holding the device from which the first call was made

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 which relied on AMPS (Advanced Mobile Figure 1: Evolution of mobile phones in China, India and Brazil
Phone System) technology. They also reached Source: http://www.itu.int/ict/statistics
England and Japan, where they were known as
TACS (Total Access Communications System)
Devices
and MCS-L1, respectively.
1,200,000,000
Second generation phones (2G) appeared in
1990. They were smaller, lighter and cheaper, 1,000,000,000
and based on GSM (Global System for Mobile
Communications) providing digital cellular 800,000,000
communication, which improved the quality
and security of voice transmission. This 600,000,000
technology allowed the transmission of several
400,000,000

200,000,000

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Year
China India Brazil

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 conversations simultaneously over a single From that moment on, and following the
channel, which greatly reduced the price in expansion of computer use and the Internet,
the contract of lines, and promoted their workstations connected to a local network
integration into the business world. were replaced with desktops and laptops with
LAN (Local Area Network) and WAN (Wide Area
Network) connections. Society started to address
the need for data transmission (Multimedia).
And so began what is known as the third
Figure 2: Comparison of the distribution of mobile operating systems generation (3G) and the development of UMTS
2008-2011 (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)
Source: IC4D 2012 report
p published
p at http://web.worldbank.org
p // g technology. Mobile phones began to incorporate
Internet connection, allowing the transmission
of files. Among the functions or services offered,
2008
photo and video cameras and games gained
iOS (Apple) Microsoft great importance, adapting mobiles to the home
11% 12% and business environments.

This is when the real revolution got under way.

Other Fourth generation (4G) devices appeared with
10% faster voice and data transmission speeds, and
earch in motion
Research
20% they became vital social and leisure attributes.
Young people aged between 18 and 30

Android
0%

Symbian (Nokia)
47%

2011
Microsoft
2%

Other Symbian (Nokia)

3% 12%
iOS (Apple)
11%

Research
search in motion
9%

Android
50%

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 constitute the social group in which mobile connections. Users can exchange files, download Today servers are
phone use has expanded most rapidly, videos, remotely update data or establish video available with high
although the age at which the devices are conferences with others in their organization. storage capacity,
acquired has been falling steadily and is accessible via
now about 12. Teenagers are the driving the internet, and
force behind mobiles given the importance without the users
for them of being constantly in touch, with The concept of mobility today being aware of the
access to various social networks like changed storage
Twitter, Facebook and the Spanish Tuenti. The current tendency is clearly towards the location of their
It is common to see groups of friends integration of telephony with a large part of data
gathered at the same table sharing a meal, the services and applications that can be
communicating with others located hundreds obtained using a computer. The challenge that
or thousands of miles away through social various international technology companies
networks or making a purchase online. are currently facing is the integration of a
This form of social interaction is no longer telephone, camera and laptop computer in
considered extraordinary. the same device and with access to numerous
applications (videoconferencing, ebooks,
Decisions can be made at business meetings television channels and social networks).
based on online data derived from systems Out in front are Apple and Samsung with
located in other offices by simply accessing their current Tablets and Smartphones.
the Internet via Smartphones or tablets, Close behind is Microsoft with its launch
using secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) of Surface, a multi-user and multi-touch

Figure 3: Sales of mobile devices by Operating System

Source: Gartner 2012.12.07

Worldwide Smartphone sales (%)

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Android Symbian Bada Windows Mobile

iOS RIM Windows Phone Others

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 system capable of identifying various objects
on the screen, and which can incorporate a
physically independent keyboard.

According to report IC4D 2012 (Information and

Communications for Development) published by
the World Bank, a change in the market for both
operating systems and mobile devices came
about in 2011. While Nokia held 47% of the market
in 2008, Google’s ‘Android’ operating system
Table 2: General characteristics of mobile applications accounted for 50% by 2011 and continued to grow
during 2012, gaining market shares from Apple’s
iOS operating system.
Target public
Specific or segmented. “Cloud Computing” has emerged to complement
the world of services and applications. Some years
Real-time iteration ago there was talk of centralising servers at a global
Immediate response when it is being used. level to provide access for thousands of users
situated throughout the world. Today servers are
available with high storage capacity, accessible via
Whether it is paid for or free the Internet, and without the users being aware of
Frequently, reduced versions of applications are offered the changed storage location of their data.
for free. If additional functionality is required, it will be
necessary to purchase a paid-for version.

Maintenance, future checks and updating

Application services for mobiles
Responding to users when errors are detected or when
The applications (apps) market started
improvements are planned. up with Apple’s iOS in 2010. With the
introduction of the latest version of Google’s

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 Table 3: Grouping of applications for tablets or smartphones
Various sources

Applications/Services Description

General Calculators, alarms, notepads, diaries.

Geolocation Identification and position of devices (ships, stars). GPS techniques are used.
There is a legal vacuum regarding individuals, so this service has not seen great
development.

Sport Allows real-time values associated with sporting activities (walking, running,
swimming) to be recorded, such as heart rate. Recommends the training to be
followed, routes and exercises.

Medicine World maps with information on international epidemics in real time. Applications for
the control of blood alcohol levels, telerehabilitation, stimulation for disabled people
and control of medicines.

Leisure Search engines for leisure and event venues, music players, videos, films, access to
television and radio channels, games.

Business Presentations and videoconferences, remote access to applications, online and offline
statistics, maps of geographic results, market analysis, inventory access, presentation
of products to clients, launches of marketing campaigns. Direct-to-bill mobile
payments avoiding the use of credit cards for Internet transactions.

Social News of a general nature, magazines or newspapers, access to social networks

(Twitter, Facebook), messaging (WhatsApp, Spotbros).

Cloud Access to files stored in the cloud.

Education Courses (languages, cooking, instruments), translators, books (novels, child education,
media, university), virtual universities.

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 Android, a situation of strong competition
has been created between both systems.

Before an application is developed, the

factors shown in Table 2 must be taken into
Figure 4: Growth from 2001 to 2011 in the global number of mobile account.
subscriptions
Source: ITU World Telecommunication / ICT Indicators database There are several applications in the
market that can be either acquired free
Mobile-cellular subscriptions (millions) or paid for. Free or low-cost applications
are frequently reduced versions with less
6000
functionality and are generally acquired
through online stores associated with the
5000 system manufacturers.

4000

Data on the global use of mobile

3000 handsets

2000 It is thought that in 2000 there were some

1,000 million mobile handsets. The World
Bank report on mobile telephones calculates
1000
that a figure of 6,000 million contracts will
shortly be reached.
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 According to a Global ITC DEVELOPMENT
report published by the ITU, the number of
mobile telephones in the world increased from
15.5 to approximately 87 per 100 inhabitants
between 2001 and 2011 (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Change in the number of mobile handsets per 100 According to IDC (International Data
inhabitants between 2001 and 2011 Corporation), in its Worldwide Quarterly
Source: Global ICT developments, 2001-2011 Smart Connected Device Tracker study,
during the third quarter of 2012 the record
Per 100 inhabitants for global sales of intelligent devices with
100
Internet connection was beaten with an
increase of 27% compared to the previous
90 quarter. 717 million Smartphones with
80 internet connection and more than 122
70 million tablets were sold between January
and November 2012.
60
50 IAB Europe (European Digital and
40 Interactive Marketing Association) carried
out the “Mobile Media: consumer insights
30
across Europe” study with data on Internet
20 access through mobile devices in 19
10 European countries. It concluded that
0 Spain has a high level of mobile internet
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 penetration (26%), behind Finland and
France and ahead of Germany. 12 million
Mobile-cellular telephone subscriptions
users (50% of whom are older than 35) use

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 it mainly to find information, write e-mails, Figure 6: Level of penetration of Smartphones and 3G or 3G+ mobile
access social networks and show interest subscriptions, 2011
in mobile advertising (two-thirds of mobile Source: eEspaña 2012 originating from NetSize Guide (2011)
Internet users say they are interested in
some form of mobile advertising), and 36%
Suscriptions 3G o 4G / Per 100 inhabitants
have experienced making payments or
reserving products from a mobile handset. 120
Finland
F Sweden
Swe
In terms of countries, China and India 100 Portugall
Austria
Aus
occupy the leading positions, although in Ireland
Irel
rellan
Poland
P United Kingdom
U
other countries the percentage penetration 80
can be higher in relation to the number of Italy
Ital Spain
S
inhabitants (Table 4). 60 Germanyy
G
EU 65.7 The Netherlands
T
Greece
Greece FFrance
rance
The data are more remarkable in the 40 Romania
Rom Denmark
D
countries of the developing world, since in Slovakia
kia
the last two years, the number of mobile Hungary
Hun
20 Belgium
um
phones has increased up until 1,500%. In the
African continent in particular, the GSMA Czech Republic
blic EU 23.9
Association report says that the number 0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
of subscribers has grown by almost 20%
annually for the last five years. Smartphones / 100 lines

Table 4: Comparison of mobile phones between 2010 and 2011

Source: Extract from statistical report published by ITU

Number of mobiles Total Per 100 inhabitants

Country 2010 2011 2010 2011

Argentina 53,700,000 55,000,000 132.88 134.92

Brazil 202,944,033 242,231,503 104.10 123.18
China 859,003,000 986,253,000 64.04 73.19
Colombia 44,477,653 46,200,421 96.07 98.45
Egypt 70,661,005 83,425,145 87.11 101.08
France 63,200,000 66,300,000 100.66 105.03
Germany 104,560,000 108,700,000 127.04 132.30
India 752,190,000 893,862,478 61.42 72.00
Indonesia 211,290,235 236,799,493 88.08 97.72
Italy 90,600,000 92,300,000 149.63 151.84
Japan 123,287,125 129,868,418 97.43 102.67
Korea (Rep.) 50,767,241 52,506,793 105.36 108.50
Mexico 91,362,753 94,565,305 80.55 82.38
Nigeria 87,297,789 95,167,308 55.10 58.58
Philippines 79,895,646 87,256,359 85.67 91.99
South Africa 50,372,000 64,000,000 100.48 126.83
Spain 51,601,028 53,066,828 111.99 114.23
Turkey 61,769,635 65,321,745 84.90 88.70
United Kingdom 81,115,492 81,612,000 130.76 130.75

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 Figure 7: Total number of mobile connections in Africa (in millions) and penetration level (as a percentage)
Source: African mobile observatory 2011 of GSMA (Groupe Speciale Mobile Association)

1000 90%
84.88%
82.06%
900 78
78.11% 80%
906
%
72.62% 860
800
804 70%
%
62.62%
700 735
735
%
56.53% 60%
+30% CAGR
600 620
620
%
47.79% 50%
500 552
552
40.23%
3% 40%
400 458
458
30.59%
%
379
379 30%
300
22.20%
0%
283
283 20%
200 15.30%
0%
201
201
9.47%
7% 10%
100 6.22% 136
2.06% 3.13% 4.43%
83
0 17 26 37 53 0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012F 2013F 2014F 2015F
YTD

Connections (millions) YTD: Year to data

Penetration F: Forecasted

CAGR: Compounded Annual Growth rate

It is thought that Some recent applications used as tools for environmental monitoring.
in 2000 there Taxi drivers in its capital, Accra, were
were some 1,000 In socioeconomic terms, new technologies equipped with mobile telephones with GPS
million mobile are considered an important tool for and a device with a carbon monoxide sensor
handsets. The World developing countries owing to the ease of to measure pollution levels.
Bank report on using touchscreens. For example, Millennium
mobile telephones Development Goals (MDGs) have demonstrated Kenya: three in every four people now have
calculates that some of the objectives achieved through the a mobile telephone. The application, called
a figure of 6,000 use of mobile telephones: EpiCollect, helps undertaking monitoring of
million contracts animal vaccination and treatment campaigns.
will shortly be Nigeria: reduction in costs associated with The application and storage space are provided
reached grain sales. Access to mobile telephones free of charge on the EpiCollect web page, which
has made it possible to obtain better assigns a unique address for each project. This
information on cereal prices throughout address is known only to users – such as national
the country, without incurring the high cost veterinary officers and field veterinarians –
of travelling to the various markets, thus taking part in the project. Searches cannot be
achieving 29% more profit. In this example, conducted on the EpiCollect database, thus
demand arose organically, and not via a preventing the merely curious from being able
specific programme. to find potentially sensitive information.

Ghana: reduction in greenhouse gas Medicine: the rehabilitation clinic Dodd Hall, in
emissions of 2% by the year 2020 (GSM Ohio, USA, started using equipment to help in
Association 2009). Mobile telephones can be rehabilitation from strokes and spinal injuries.

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 Companies: interaction with clients and huge growth of mobile telephones, whether The fact that these
empowerment of company personnel. smartphones or not, and tablets. Another factor devices can be
The CIOs (Chief Information Officers) are that has an influence is the great dependence expensive has
promoting mobile phones due to their ease arising from the storage of personal and/or led insurance
of use and capacity for obtaining control professional information. companies, mobile
systems, making it possible to analyse the manufacturers
state of the company at any time. The setting- In addition, the fact that these devices can be and telephony
up of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is being expensive has led insurance companies, mobile operators to launch
started, within the business environment, manufacturers and telephony operators to products covering
enabling employees to use their personal launch products covering damage arising from damage arising from
devices as tools in their jobs. theft, breakage, malfunctions due to dropping, theft, breakage,
rusting, loss, and fraudulent use of information malfunctions due to
or the making of calls from telephones that dropping, rusting,
have been stolen or lost. loss, and fraudulent
Insurance applied to mobile devices use of information or
The insurance cost will depend on the offered the making of calls
The insurance companies are trying to gain cover, although it is very important to analyse from telephones that
market shares among private customers certain factors: replacement value of the have been stolen or
and companies in this sector, owing to the device, information stored, back-up copies, lost

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 Figure 5: Most common covers

Cover for theft or loss Cover for breakdown

Cost of Fraudulent calls up to a limit. Blocking and Request for cards.

Loss of Data. Repair of parts out of warranty.
Recovery of Data. Damage due to liquids.
Blocking and Request for Line. Breakage of screen.
Rusting.

If the number of confidentiality, need to recover information due

internet-connected to loss or theft, use during travel within the
mobile devices is country or abroad, type of user or guarantee
growing sharply and offered by the manufacturer.
their functionalities
can be applied Generally, two types of cover are offered: theft
for the benefit of or loss and breakdown (Figure 5). In the case of
society in general, theft, they provide compensation to replace the
should we consider mobile telephone or replacement via a device
their negative of the same value.
impact to be a
critical factor? In the case of breakdown, repair or replacement
of the device is envisaged for failures of the
memory cards or damage by spilt liquids,
remote assistance and recovery of stored data,
for example.

Thoughts about the future

The introduction of Smartphones and Tablets

has completely changed the concept of mobility
and telephony. The method of accessing the
Internet from mobile devices, the appearance
of long-range touchscreens and the
improvement in bandwidths for the Internet
connection are all facilitating the creation and
release of functionalities capable of meeting
user demands, including the original service
of having a telephone conversation.

As a final thought, on a matter that should be

discussed in a near future, if the number of
internet-connected mobile devices is growing
sharply and their functionalities can be applied
for the benefit of society in general, should we
consider their negative impact to be a critical
factor? Is there really a possibility of physical or
mental injury caused by these devices, such as

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 changes in behaviour? What safety measures
should be taken to protect the information
contained? What policies should be adopted at
company level? Is LTE (Long Term Evolution,
4G) already a reality since it can exploit speeds
of more than 100 Mb?

References

Commission for the Telecommunications Market:

www.cmt.es: Report “NM Septiembre 2012 ES.pdf”

Global Telecom Insight, Market Investigation:

http://discovermobilelife.com/

IAB EUROPE:
http://www.iabeurope.eu

World Bank Institute:

http://www.worldbank.org, Reference report
“IC4D 2012: Maximizing Mobile”

National Observatory for Telecommunications

and the Information Society (public body
assigned to Red.es):
http://www.ontsi.red.es

Website on Technology for SMEs:

http://www.ticpymes.es

Chetan Sharma Consultancy:

http://www.chetansharma.com/
globalmobileupdate1H2011.htm

International Data Corporation:

http://www.idc.com

International Telecommunication Union – ITU:

http://www.itu.int/ITU-D/ict

Mobile Active:
http://www.mobileactive.org.
GSMA report published at:
http://www.mobileactive.org/files/file_
uploads/African_Mobile_Observatory_Full_
Report_2011.pdf

Portal on 4G, LTE:

http://www.lteportal.com

La web del campo:

http://www.agrodigital.com/PlArtStd.
asp?CodArt=88656

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