Happy birthday to GSM - the first GSM call on a commercial network was placed on 1 July, 1991. And here we are, 20 years later when GSM is the predominant technology for cell phones, a proud grand parent of UMTS and LTE. The world's first commercial GSM call was made in Helsinki, Finland on the Radiolinja's network when prime minister Harri Holkeri called deputy mayor of Tampere Kaarina Suonio.