Cellular phone service hit the 30th anniversary mark in Indianapolis on February 2. The February 1984 launch made Indianapolis the third U.S. market to introduce the new mobile service, behind only Chicago in October 1983, and Washington/Baltimore in December 1983. Developmental systems had been authorized in both those markets in 1977, providing those operators some familiarity with the network requirements and the customer environment, but the Indianapolis market was a totally new venture – the first launch completely for commercial service.
Although the FCC initially authorized only two cellular systems per market, today consumers have a choice of multiple wireless providers. In this era of smartphones, data plans and dazzling applications, it is hard to remember that the first cellular systems were for voice traffic only and were designed primarily for phones installed in cars. Handheld devices were not widely available and did not become popular until the size and price dropped significantly in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Non-voice applications arrived later as digital technologies expanded network capabilities.