CT2 Test Bed Module representing base station, British Telecom Research Laboratories, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk, England, 1988. Used for the development of a Telepoint system conforming to a Common Air Interface Standard with cellular radio networks, by British Telecom, UK, 1988

CT2 Test Bed Module representing base station, British Telecom Research Laboratories, Martlesham Heath, Ipswitch, Suffolk, England, 1988.

In the late 1980s the second generation of cordless telephone (CT2) technology, also known as Telepoint, was in development. This rack of electronics was CT2 test equipment used by BT engineers at BT Laboratories, Martlesham Heath. Many people thought that Telepoint technology could compete with the young mobile phone industry. Four Telepoint services were launched: Rabbit, Phonepoint, Mercury Callpoint and Zonephone. Users could carry their Telepoint phone with them and make calls if they were within range of a public base station. The quickly expanding mobile phone industry rapidly outstripped Telepoint systems. Phonepoint, the first UK Telepoint service, closed only two years after its 1989 launch with fewer than 1000 subscribers.