Timeline of Innovation

1985

• Qualcomm is founded.¹

1986

• 1,000 cell sites across America.²

1987

• Cell phone industry tops $1 billion in revenue.³ (page 60)

1988

• Qualcomm pioneers machine-to-machine communications.¹

1989

• Qualcomm makes a historic phone call, CDMA is proven.¹

1990

• Cellular subscribership surpasses five million.⁴

1991

• The first "modern" network technology on digital 2G is launched by Radiolinja in Finland on the GSM standard.⁵

1992

• The number of cellular users pass the 10 million milestone.⁴
• World's first commercial text message sent by employees of Logica CMG.⁴

1993

• The first smartphone (IBM's Simon) is released to the public and offered consumers a calendar, address book, calculator, email, faxing services and games.⁴
• CDMA is adopted as a cellular standard in the U.S.¹

1995

• The average consumer uses his or her phone for 115 minutes per month.⁴

1996

• Bell Atlantic Mobile launches the first commercial CDMA network in the United States.⁶
• The Telecommunications Act of 1996 becomes law, in part designed to open other communications markets to competition.⁴
• CDMA goes global.¹

1997

• Subscribership in the wireless industry (cellular, PCS and ESMR) surpasses 50 million.⁶
• 50,000 cell sites across America.⁶
• Delivery of digital wireless data and voice networks (2G).⁶

1998

• Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (also known as OBRA) of 1993 is implemented. This is the first legislation authorizing the FCC to auction spectrum.
• The first commercial CDMA smartphone.¹

1999

• Birth of the mobile phone Internet services.⁷
• Congress passes Wireless Communications and Public Safety Act, also known as the 911 Act. The act requires the setup of enhanced 911.⁸ It authorizes telecommunications carriers to provide call location information concerning a user of a commercial mobile service.⁹
• The first commercial launch of a mobile-specific browser-based web service occurs in Japan when i-mode is launched by NTT DoCoM.⁷
• CDMA selected as 3G standard.¹

2000

• Wireless subscribership in America exceeds 100 million and totals approximately 38 percent of the U.S. population.⁴
• Digital wireless users outnumber analog subscribers.⁴
• Nearly one million Americans directly or indirectly employed by wireless. (Jobs in the wireless industry pay wages that are approximately 78 percent higher than the national average.)³(page 61)

2001

• Global number of mobile subscriptions passes number of fixed phone lines.¹⁰
• Introduction of 3G high-speed data.¹¹

2002

• Delivery of digital wireless data and voice enhanced networks (2.5G).⁶

2003

• Verizon Wireless launches EV-DO (high-speed data services).¹

2005

• Eighty-two percent of the world population over the age of 15 can read and write.¹²
• Fifteen percent of public school instructional rooms have wireless Internet access (NCES 2007).¹³

2006

• The total value of mobile phone paid media content exceeds Internet-paid media content and is worth 31 billion dollars.⁵

2007

• Qualcomm becomes the world's leading mobile chipset provider.¹
• Windows Mobile launches.¹

2009

• In early 2009, Congress directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop a National Broadband Plan to ensure every American has "access to broadband capability."¹⁴
• There are more than 285.6 million U.S. wireless subscriber connections, which is approximately 91 percent of the total U.S. population.⁴
• Wireless subscribers use more than 6.2 billion minutes per day and send and received more than five billion SMS messages per day.⁴
• December 2009 data traffic exceeds voice. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAZsma-JrNo
• Worldwide CDMA subscribers surpass 500 million.¹
• President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announce Race to the Top.¹⁵
• The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act invests heavily in education both as a way to provide jobs now and lay the foundation for long-term prosperity.¹⁶
• USA Project K-NECT enhancing student math development education - Proficiency rates increased by 30 percent.¹⁷
• The market for mobile learning technologies in the United States is $632.2 million across all sectors.¹⁸
• First ever United States Chief Technology Officer is appointed - Aneesh Chopra.¹⁹
• On February 17, 2009 the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is passed into law with $117.4 billion dedicated to health information technology ("HIT") and improving and preserving health care.²⁰

2010

• In June, President Barack Obama signs a memorandum committing to freeing up 500 MHz of spectrum for the wireless industry.²¹
• After the devastating January earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a record-breaking $35 million is donated via text message.⁴
• Worldwide 3G connections surpass one billion.¹
• Project Tomorrow releases Learning in the 21st Century: Taking it Mobile! and finds 62 percent of responding parents report that if their child's school allowed devices to be used for educational purposes they would likely purchase a mobile device for their child.²²
• "Opens the door for students who now carry 50 pounds of outdated textbooks in their backpacks to instead use digital textbooks or laptops with up to date materials and cutting-edge learning materials." - FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski".²³
• President Obama announces the launch of Change the Equation, a CEO-led effort to dramatically improve education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), as part of his "Educate to Innovate" campaign.²⁴
• National Education Technology Plan is passed.²⁵
• On March 16, 2010, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unveils "Connecting America: The National Broadband Plan" for improving broadband Internet access throughout the U.S. with a chapter devoted exclusively to health care.²⁶
• On March 23, 2010, President Obama signs the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law which emphasizes the use of health IT to achieve health reform goals.²⁷
• The current U.S. market for wireless, home-based health care applications is $304 million.³
• According to MobileHealthNews there are 5,820 medical, health and fitness apps available for smartphones.²⁸
• Chronic diseases - such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes, and arthritis - are among the most common, costly, and preventable of all health problems and account for 7 out of 10 deaths among Americans each year.²⁹

2011

• Estimated that more than 50 percent of 3G handset shipments will go to Emerging Markets in 2011.(page 2)³⁰ (page 2)

2012

• Projected that smartphones will outnumber total PCs.³¹
• In 2010, Manhattan Research reports 72 percent of doctors use smartphones personally and professionally, with that number expected to jump to 81 percent in 2012.³²

2013

• Estimated one billion (approximately 69 percent) subscribers will have migrated from 2G to 3G.³¹
• The U.S. market for wireless, home-based health care applications is expected to grow to $4 billion in 2013, with estimated annual growth rates of 96 percent in 2010, 126 percent in 2011, 95 percent in 2012, and 68 percent in 2013.³³

2014

• Estimated 2.5 billion (approximately 75 percent) of total broadband subscriptions will be mobile.³¹
• Estimated monthly data traffic will exceed 2008 yearly total.³¹
• Mobile learning is growing in colleges and universities. At a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3 percent until it reaches $1.46 billion in 2014, growth is projected to be in the double digits in terms of dollar expenditures through 2014.³⁴
• K-12 spending on mobile learning technologies is estimated to increase from $70.9 million in 2009 to $143.3 million in 2014.³⁴