GROWTH OF WIRELESS

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 118, 14 November 1929, Page 27

GROWTH OF WIRELESS

AN ENGLISHMAN'S REVIEW

Sir "William Noble, director of the British General Electric Company, and formerly engineer-in-chief to the British Post Office, chairman of the comonittee which inaugurated, broadcasting in England, and director for four years of tho original, .British Broadcasting Company, is visiting Australia. He recently contributed' an interesting article to the Adelaide "Observer." Ho refers first to the development of the telegraph and telephone services, as now embodying all the most modern equipment. "With the construction, now in hand, of the link between Adelaide and Perth, there will be direct communication over a distance of 4760 miles—the longest telephone connection in the world.

"The more one thinks of the wonders of wireless (writes Sir William Noble) the more one is convinced it is the 'moat marvellous product of the human brain. ,1 can remember when Marconi came to London to conduct experiments in conjunction with the British Post Office. It created quite a furore in, scientific circles when telegraphic communication, without wires, took place between two stations a few miles apart on Salisbury Plains. Now wireless telegraphy between England and Australia takes place at a speed J)f about 200 words per minute! "It was in 1896 that Marconi ■brought Ms invention to England, jwhere ,he was given, facilities for displaying and developing it- by the Brit-1 $«h Post Office authorities, who had ibeen experimenting for some years .upon other systems. At the outset Marconi could bnly transmit a few hunjdred yardiy bnfc by the end of 1898 a [distance of twelve miles was spanned, .•when wireless communication, was established between the East Goodwin lighthouse and the South Foreland lighthouse. In 1899 the first wiretess messages were exchanged between England ana Prance. la 1901 the first long-distance high-power station created in England—that at Poldhu, .in Cornwall, was opened. "As regards wireless telephony, there is an excellent service between. England and America, and at no distant date there may be a commercial seryice between England and the Commoi'-'l wealth. _ ■ . ! BROADCASTING BEGINS. | •'One of. the adjuncts of wireless is ! ■broadcasting, and a wonderful adjunct it is. It has made extraordinary strides. The first licences for broadcasting were issued in the United States in September, 1921—bnly eight years j ago. Many stations were quickly j erected throughout America,; but there i was no State control, and something approaching chaos soon, prevailed. ' "The British Broadcasting Company was formed in November, 1922, with a capital of £100,000, guaranteed by six large firms. . . -.: "The first station was erected in December, and was quickly followed by five more stations, the locations being | London, Birmingham, Manchester, Car- j diff, Glasgow, and Aberdeen. Soon | afterwards a number of'relay stations j were erected in other cities, so as to I cover the whole country. "The romance of broadcasting makes a powerful appeal to the imagination. It is indeed a marvellous thing that" a man in the very heart of this vast continent, out of touch with the rest of tho world, and separated from his fellows by days and weeks of weary travel may listen-in to the latest news from Melbourne, may hear a song sung in Sydney, or may.at command listen to the murmur of the whole world. This I consider one of the greatest blessings Brought -to humanity by broadcasting. AMPLE FUNDS. _<■ "In 1927 the original broadcasting company was superseded by tho British Broadcasting Corporation, a semi-Gov-ernment body. In England over two and three-quarter million licences have been issued, and as each licensee pays 10s, and the bulk of the money goes to the Corporation, it has ample funds with which to develop broadcasting and to provide good programmes. Larger stations of higher power are being erected, and these will provide a better service. -"J hav<s' lisi;enea in to all.the broadeaafang stations in Melbourne, and in my opinion the licensees have no reaBoa to,: complain of the fare provided. London is the hub of the universe (at least, Britishers think bo), and England has greater opportunities for providing excellent and varied programmes, as all the great artists of other countries visit Great Britain. The Australian cities haven't the same advantages, bat, notwithstanding this the programmes are wonderfully good. The first stations in the Commonwealth were opened in 1923, and the progress made since then has been excellent. The total number of licences issued is just over 303,500, a number exceeded only by America, Great Britaaji Germany, Sweden, and Austria. _. V Victoria has the distinction of »H?«r? Denmark for tie highest ratio of licences per 1000 of popula*iS ?? 7 con? try> e*«ept the United $- P«^r?? o 'i N/ Xfc comes Sweaett wita pB, and England with 61."