Shopper Blog: UScellular marks 40th year, and the first cell call from Knoxville
BEARDEN
UScellular marks 40th year, and the first cell call from Knoxville
John Shearer, Shopper News
In July 1985, Knoxville enjoyed a historic moment when the first local cell − or wireless − phone call was made by officials with UScellular.
It was done from the area near the current Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, before it was built, and by the A-frame hotel that at the time was a Hyatt Regency. The call was made to Tokyo. Japan was chosen simply because it was where wireless phone manufacturing originated.
That event was remembered Dec. 5 with a special ceremony.
As a way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of UScellular’s 1983 founding in Knoxville, the firm donated a bench, pathway and plaque to the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in the general location of where the 1985 outdoor call had been made.
On hand for the event were officials from UScellular, the Knoxville Chamber, the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame, and Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs. Jacobs during the ceremony called UScellular a thoughtful business entity that had invested in the community’s infrastructure.
Thomas White, the director of sales for UScellular in East Tennessee, said an early company official was also on hand and that the event was a great way to celebrate the 40th anniversary. “We were trying to find a way to have a little celebration,” he said. “(Early UScellular employee) Bill Arnett, he was in attendance, and he shared the approximate area of where the call was made.”
UScellular, headquartered in Chicago, had been founded as a subsidiary of Telephone and Data Systems Inc. (TDS) and began operations in Knoxville and then Tulsa. It is now one of the major wireless carriers and mobile network operators in the country, and White said the late Leroy Carlson, an early company leader, had wanted to focus on getting cell and internet service to more rural areas of the country.
“What Leroy identified was that there was a gap of wireless technology becoming available in the rural areas. That was his vision from the beginning,” he said, adding that Carlson’s son, Ted, is still heavily involved in the company, which offers a variety of phone and internet plans.
White also explained that the first call was made several months after the 1983 founding because it took that long to get all the infrastructure and technology in place.
Information online says that a patent for the first American wireless phone dates to 1908, and mobile phone technologies for cars have been around since the mid-20th century and used on a limited basis. Motorola had developed the first modern mobile phone in 1973.
As the technology slowly evolved, visitors to the 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville had opportunities to make long-distance calls from a parked car on the fairgrounds.
With the emphasis on developing digital cellphone service, the industry began taking off in the 1980s. By the mid-to-late 1980s, mobile phones became increasingly popular, particularly for salesmen and others who had to make calls while traveling.
The phones were initially popular with attached antennae on cars, but soon phones for use away from automobiles became popular, although they were initially quite heavy and cumbersome. Technology, of course, would make them smaller, and now they are as popular among teenagers wanting to watch videos as adult professionals making important calls.
And that has all kept UScellular operating in East Tennessee and beyond.
“I think about the vision of making a simple phone call to now having any piece of data on my fingertips. It is a pretty awesome change,” White said.
OPINION
Great Love or cold fish? She's both
Leslie Snow, Shopper News
On the surface we look like an ordinary, happy couple. We’re always together, and we like to do all the same things.
But if you look a little closer, you’ll notice something’s amiss. We’re a little off-kilter and out of sync. While it’s hard to recognize it when we’re together, the truth is clear. I’m stuck in a love-like relationship with Buttercup and it’s breaking my heart.
I love everything about my Great Dane. I love her almond shaped eyes and her crooked tail. I love her floppy ears and her droopy jowls. I love the way she holds her head up high when I take her out in public so the world can recognize her great beauty. She’s sassy and smart; bold and adventurous. And every night, she sleeps with a pink stuffed monkey cradled in her mouth. It’s adorable.
In turn, Buttercup really likes me. She likes when I feed her and when I take her for a walk. She likes when I give her a treat and I when I let her ride to the hardware store with me. She likes when I scratch behind her ears and rub her soft belly.
But only sometimes. Other times, when I’m petting her, she gets up and crawls under the coffee table so I can’t reach her. She’s a cold, indifferent thing. And I tell her so.
I tell her she’s nothing but a user.
I tell her I’m getting another dog. A nicer dog that will love me best.
“If you don’t watch yourself,” I say, when she turns away from me, “I’m getting a Vizsla. And I’m going to let her sleep in our bed!”
My husband says I should ignore her, that I should re-establish my authority and make Buttercup come to me. But as hard as I try to be more aloof, I can’t. I’m smitten. I’m in love, even if it’s unrequited.
The other day I took Buttercup for a hike. The air was crisp, the sun was bright, and she was full of energy. I watched her chase squirrels through the woods and run into the lake just for fun. It was a joy to see her so alive and in her element.
At the end of the hike, we climbed into the car, ready to take on the rest of our day. But as soon as the car doors closed, I noticed a horrible smell, something far more noxious than the usual “wet dog.”
I looked in the back seat, and there, speared onto Buttercup’s pinch collar, was a desiccated fish. Or more accurately, half a desiccated fish. Its tail was missing. I jumped out of the car, yanked off her collar and slammed it into the ground until the half-fish went flying.
It wasn’t until I was driving home in my smelly car that Buttercup finally acknowledged my presence. She squeezed her giant head between the door and the front seat and gave me a rare, crappie-scented kiss.
I wanted to believe that kiss was a sign of her great affection. I wanted to believe that she saw me and felt a surge of love so strong that she had to place her fish-face next to mine.
But then I remembered the way she walked away from me while I was petting her. I remembered all the times she couldn’t be bothered to greet me at the door. And I wasn’t so sure if that fish-kiss was a sign of her great love or something else entirely.
Happy Holidays from me and Buttercup.
Leslie Snow may be reached at snow column@aol.com.
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