Communication · 1991

GSM (2G digital cellular)

Europe's digital standard makes phones roam across borders and carry data.

The first GSM call was made in Finland on 1 July 1991 on the Radiolinja network. Digital encoding and SIM cards enabled roaming, encryption and text messaging; GSM reached over 80 countries within a decade and billions of users.

See it in the living tree Wikipedia

Arcs above join it to what it stood on, arcs below to what it led to. The bar places this stretch on the tree's whole timeline.

What it built on 3

Cellular phone network 1983
Microprocessor (Intel 4004) 1971
Information theory 1948

What it led to 2

Text messaging (SMS) 1992
3G mobile data 2001

Related measurements

The dashed line marks when it first worked.

Mobile phone subscriptions per 100 people Latest: 112 per 100 people (2025) Source: Our World in Data

Share of people online Latest: 73.6 % (2025) Source: Our World in Data