Smartphone ancestor bypasses networks

The pager was the first compact mobile communication tool to appear in the mass market and although smartphones have largely pushed it out, some people still use the reliable technology today.

Pagers were in the spotlight on Tuesday after hundreds of the devices used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon exploded simultaneously across the country in a first-of-its-kind attack that the militant group blamed on Israel.

Pagers are small boxes that sound alerts and allow a user to receive messages.

They have their own frequency and are therefore considered more reliable as they bypass mobile telephone networks, which can experience interruptions, connection problems, or interception of communications.

These features are among the reasons Hezbollah is using them. After the 7 October attack by Hamas sparked the war in Gaza, the militant group told its members to stop using mobile phones to prevent Israeli breaches of the technology.

Pagers had their heyday in the West in the 1980s and ‘90s — 61 million pagers were in circulation worldwide in 1994, according to US-based pager manufacturer Spok.

But although smartphones have largely taken over the mass market, pagers continue to be used in some sectors, like hospitals, particularly in the United States.