“BOUND TO COME”

Dominion, Volume 23, Issue 54, 27 November 1929, Page 13

“BOUND TO COME”

THE WIRELESS TELEPHONE NEW ZEALAND TO LONDON AN EARLY DEVELOPMENT? Wireless telephone communication between New Zealand and Australia, and also with England, are predicted for the not far distant future by Sir William Noble, a director of the British General Electric Company, who arrived in Wellington from Napier last evening. While pointing out that it was "bound to come,” Sir William, who was Engineer-in-Chief to the British Post Office when he retired from that department some seven years ago, stated that such a service would necessarily be expensive because of the powerful plant required and the short time in which it could be used. Sir William Noble commenced life as a telegraphist in Aberdeen at 12s. a week, and 43 years later—on May 31, 1922—retired as Engineer-in-Chief of the British Post Office. Hard work, he says, has been the secret of his success.. It took him 20 years to get to London after he joined the service. Then promotion followed rapidly, and by the end of another 22 years he had reached the top of the service. In 1920 he was knighted by His Majesty the King for distinguished services to the Empire. Sir William Noble is a director of the British General Electric Cdnipany and it is for the purpose of visiting the company’s branches in the Australian capitals and in New’ Zealand that he is in this part of the world. His visit to Australia was timed to enable him to be in Hobart for the opening of the first automatic telephone, exchange in Tasmania. He last visited New Zealand eajjly in 1920. In 1922, Sir William Noble was chairman of the committee that inaugurated broadcasting in Great Britain. The committee, representing the “Big Six” manufacturers, formed the British Broadcasting Company under the Post Office to keep the system under one control. After four years the British Broadcasting Corporation was formed on the recommendation of a commission, and this was more directly under Government control. Sir William continues to take a keen interest in broadcasting.

Spoke from Sydney to London. His recent experience of speaking by wireless telephone from Sydney to London was referred to by Sir William Noble last night. “It was as good as you could have it in this city, speaking to someone a hundred yards away,” he said. “A few’ years ago no one would have dreamt that such a development was possible.” There is not yet any commercial wireless telephone service from Australia to England, and anything done Sb far has been purely experimental. Sir William believes, however, that the service between London and Australia will be regularly established on a commercial basis at an early date. He spoke at the invitation of the head of Amalgamated Wireless (Mr. Fisk) and his conversation was with Lady Hirst, wife of the chairman of the General Electric Company (Sir Hugo Hirst). The speaking was remarkably good considering that connections had to be made to the Hirst home out of Reading, some 50 miles from London, and that it was rather early and atmospherics were noticeable. Conversation with some friends living four miles from Loudon was better, but when he came to speak with the general manager of the General Electric Co. in the heart of London the atmospherics had died down and hearing was perfect.

Drawback to System. “It was wonderful to be able to converse with people 1200 miles away,” he remarked. "The drawback to commercial wireless telephony is that we are asleep in England when you are awake here. A telegram sent off in the afternoon from here would be ready for a man in London when he reached his office next morning. It is not so easy to arrange a telephone conversation. That is why it is not possible to have more than a limited service of about three hours a day. The time will be late in the afternoon in Australia and early in the morning in England. When I was speaking from Sydney late in the afternoon, one of; the men at the other end had just had his morning bath and another was having breakfast. The atmospheric conditions would be better at midnight (Australian time), but most respectable people are in bed at that time, so it is proposed to arrange the service earlier. “The time for the conversations will have to be arranged ahead,” he proceeded. “If you wished to speak to friends in England from Sydney, advice would be sent the night before asking them to be ready to receive a message nt such-and-such a time in the morning. You could not afford to wait when you were spending £l5 or so for three minutes’ conversation. They talk of making the charge cither £l5, or £9 for three minutes. Not many people in Wellington could afford that, lint it is worth while for meu with big business at stake. There is one American who uses the telephone to Britain for an hour a day. It costs him £180.”

Reference was made by Sir William Noble .to the beam system of wireless. This, he stated, had been a great success and there were only occasional delays, due to atmospherics. Messages

were sent nt the rate of 200 words a minute. He considered that wireless would never take the place of cables. Wireless was so often affected by the weather, which interfered with long-distance conversation. Sir William Noble is impressed with the hydro-elect ric development in. New Zealand. "This country is certainly to the front as far as the distribution of electric power is concerned,” he said.