(WBBM NEWSRADIO) – Friday marked 40 years since a Chicago man became the first commercial cellular phone customer to make a call.
Back in 1983, David Meilhan was a young insurance executive. He called the phone company after his car and his radio phone were stolen from the lot at Soldier Field.
“I used to live on a boat every summer,” Meilhan told WBBM Newsradio.
He called the phone company to see about getting a new radio phone, and they told him about new cellular technology that was coming out.
He had it installed in his new car. It was part of a contest in which engineers had to run a 50-yard dash and install a giant chip in the new phone systems in the trunks of cars.
Meilhan’s guy was last to get there. But he was the first to get the chip installed.
He ended up making the first call to an Ameritech executive: “I was excited because we won. I can’t quite remember what was said.”
He was connected with Alexander Graham Bell’s granddaughter in Germany, but she didn’t speak English. So, that was a quick conversation, he said.
The historic Oki Model CS-1 phone is now at the Museum of Science and Industry, but Meilhan still has the car, a 1983 Mercedes 380-SL. And he’s still in the insurance business.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram