Technophone Limited was set up in 1984 by Nils Mårtensson, a Swedish radio engineer who had left
Ericsson. The company made mobile phones in the UK under the Excell label, and also made phones for other companies such as
Deutsche Bundespost and
Olivetti. Technophone sold their mobile phones through Excell Communications branded as the Excell M1 and M2 or PC105T. Excell Communications was started by Cheshire-based entrepreneurs, and the company later handed over management Michael Goldstone. The company had a heavy sales emphasis, and sales agents were very highly paid. The Pocketphone PC105T was released in 1986 and retailed at £1,990; as the adverts showed, it would fit inside a standard-sized shirt pocket. Technophone was awarded the
Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation (Technology) in 1988 for its development. Technophone Ltd held 80% of the shares of Excell Communications Ltd when it was sold to Dial-A-Phone Mobile in 1989. Technophone was sold by Mårtensson for around £50 million in 1991 to
Nokia. The factory in
Camberley,
Surrey used by Technophone was then used for the development and manufacture of the base stations which make the networks' mobile phones work on Nokia Networks. The mobile phone part of the business was split into various areas around the world and has become part of Nokia Mobile Phones, with phones designed and made globally. ==Phones==