BEAM WIRELESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26177, 13 June 1946, Page 5

BEAM WIRELESS

DOMINION HANDICAPPED NEED OF RECEIVING STATION (Rec. 11 p.m.) LONDON, June 11. New Zealand is undoubtedly worse served in telecommunications than any other dominion, said Mr D. F C. Saxton, on behalf of the New Zealand delegation to the Empire Press Conference, when Empire communications were discussed. Between lodgment in London and delivery to the newspaper offices in New Zealand, he said, press messages were subjected to nine delays during transmission, some substantial and sometimes involving many hours. Similar delay was possible in all private and commercial messages. The principal cause was the lack of a beam wireless receiving station, a quick teleprinter and radio teletype transmitting equipment in New Zealand, which was now the only major dominion without beam wireiess reception. If New Zealand wished to keep pace with the remainder of the Empire it was essential that such a station should be provided by the New Zealand Government, in conjunction with the Imperial communications authorities, and also that the Government should radically revise the internal distribution in sympathy with existing methods in all the othei major British dominions. The fault was not vpth the Post Office officials, who were universally helpful, but with Govern ment policy. Based on the decisions at the recent Bermuda Communications Conference, Mr Saxton moved—first, that the dominion Governments be urged to provide uniform telecommunication facilities on a global basis to permit the free and rapid intercommunication promised by recent technological developments' secondly, that Governments abandon the right to reduced Government rates or free memoranda preceding and delaying private, commercial and press messages. Both resolutions were referred by conference to a special committee for drafting.