# Old timey cell phones: What was the cost? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timey-cell-phones-what-was-the-cost/396247 "2007-03-16T19:19:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timey-cell-phones-what-was-the-cost/396247/1 "2007-03-16T19:19:27Z")
I never actually saw a [brick phone](http://www.mobiletracker.net/archives/images/7474_MotImage.jpg) in real life, only on a TV (or movie) screen. I did, however, see a [bag phone](http://motorola3watts.com/images/2900_photo_large.jpg) here and there before cell phones became small and cheap enough for the masses to carry around. The article on the brick phone indicates that it was first commercially available in 1983, so I have to imagine there was a significant cost difference to warrant hauling around a car battery (so to speak) to power your phone. Any ideas on the cost differences? I didn’t get my first phone until bag phones were already on the way out. (Just axing about cellular here, not the older mobile system phones, where you might have to carry a suitcase to power it.) ---
**Author:** ![essell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/34f0e0/32.png) [@essell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/essell)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timey-cell-phones-what-was-the-cost/396247/2 "2007-03-16T19:25:37Z")
I can ask a couple people at work who used to sell them, but IIRC, It was initially about £1000 for the equipment, and 50p per minute in the UK. This would be about 20 years ago. USA has been behind Europe in mobile tech so adjust accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timey-cell-phones-what-was-the-cost/396247/3 "2007-03-16T20:02:57Z")
I remember still selling those bag phones around 1993-94. If I recall correctly the phone itself was FREE, you had to sign a 1-year contract, it was $29.95/month, that included 30 minutes of talk time, did not include roaming or long distance charges, and anything over 30 minutes was 29 cents a minute. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timey-cell-phones-what-was-the-cost/396247/4 "2007-03-16T22:42:33Z")
I had one of the early, trunk mounted cell phones. The Novatel Aurora. The unit cost $1100-$1200 dollars. They had a lease-to-own option, which is what I chose. I don’t remember the monthly base charge. The minutes were $0.32 a minute. There were no free minutes at first. Within a year or so of getting it, they started giving free nights and weekends. I used it for business and my bills were usually $70-$120 a month. ---
**Author:** ![DevNull](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c89c15/32.png) [@DevNull](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DevNull)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timey-cell-phones-what-was-the-cost/396247/5 "2007-03-17T02:50:45Z")
I had a bag phone in 1988 and it was real embarrasing to get a phone call in a mall or a store. Talk about unwanted attention toward the fellow with the very clumsy phone array sticking out of a bag. There is no way to look slick with a bag phone. I envied the brickers and their $1700 phones. It cost me $900 and peak time was .79 a minute with non-peak at .39 a minute. On a trip to Canada there was a sign for a cell testing area in the middle of nowhere in Quebec that said “free cell calls” so I called a whole bunch of people for fun. Yay. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2007, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-timey-cell-phones-what-was-the-cost/396247/6 "2007-03-17T03:44:25Z")
Yeah, I was working at Rat Shack back then and was mightily pissed when the manager sniped a cell phone sale. I quit loudly and publicly the next day.