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(Tuesday, April 3, 1973, afternoon EST) — The first handheld cellular phone call was made today by Martin Cooper on 6th Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets in front of the Hilton Hotel in New York City as the Motorola company to unveiled its new “DYNA T-A-C radio-telephone.”

Cooper’s call to his rival, Dr. Joel S. Engel of Bell Labs, was made possible by the installation of temporary towers on two buildings on Fifth Avenue.

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Cooper, vice president and director of systems operations, said the new phone “eliminates the present phone cord. All information today goes on the wire, including dialing and hanging up the phone. Through the use of a few integrated circuits, chips, and devices, we are performing the functions of tens of thousands of parts in the normal phone system.”

Cooper predicted that through the use of advanced circuitry and new technologies the size of the handsets could be reduced even further to the point where they might fit in a breast pocket.

In reply to a question, he said, that Motorola was “working on several methods of handling long-distance calls to the subscriber when he is away from his code area.” He indicated this could be handled by any of several methods once the network spreads to other cities.