FUTURE OF WIRELESS

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 123, 25 May 1923, Page 7

FUTURE OF WIRELESS

BROADCASTING PROBLEMS

EFFECT ON NEWS SERVICES

PROPOSALS IN AUSTRALIA.

(UNITED PRESS ASSOCIATION.—COPYRIGHT.) (Received 25th May, noon.) MELBOURNE, This Day. A conference of representatives of companies and organisations interested in wireless broadcasting, convened by Mr. Gibson, the Postmaster-General, has opened. Mr. Gibson said that broadcasting should prove a valuable asset to the community, but, unless properly organised and conducted, might result in chaos. He hoped the conference would evolve a scheme and suggest regulations agreeable to all parties.

Mr. Holtz, general manager of the "Argus" newspaper, said the newspapers and news ■■. distributing agencies were gravely concerned in the proposals for distributing news. The collection and preparation of news involved great expense, and when made public the information contained in the papers should not become the property of a broadcasting company to incorporate in its service. No objection would be made to supplying news for broadcasting on a proper business basis. The conference agreed to affirm the principle of establishing decentralised broadcasting services, and giving authority to independent companies to undertake those services on a commercial basis. A committee was appointed to draft regulations. The conference to-morrow will consider a scheme submitted by Mr. F.isk, managing director of Amalgamated Wireless, Ltd. This proposes that a number of wave lengths shall be set aside for broadcasting stations so chosen that neighbouring stations shall not interfere with each other or other traffic. Under the scheme each station will be licensed annually to transmit at one wave length only. Licenses to hire or sell receiving apparatus conforming to the regulations will be issued to dealers in electrical apparatus, dealers to sell apparatus to holders of licenses only, and to keep a record of the sales and broadcasters to provide the Government ivith a list of license-holders for using their services and to pay an annual fee to the Government for each license-holder. Bona fide experimenters will be given every reasonable freedom for conducting experiments which do not interfere with the matter provided by the broadcasting firms. The conference forwarded Empire Day greetings to the King adding that wireless should be the means of binding tho Dominions to the Motherland.