WHAT RADIO MEANS TO THE EMPIRE.

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 20, 28 November 1930, Page 4

WHAT RADIO MEANS TO THE EMPIRE.

AST week we had a glimpse of the telephone service to England. Its distinct success, although too much cannot be placed upon this achievement, has led us to expect that in the very near future a commercial telephone service will operate between ourselves anc Great Britain, taking in of course Australia and probably Canada. It is likely, too, that in a very few months a telephonic service will be available to the principal European countries and the United States. To anyone who has followed the very rapid development of the transAtlantic service, it has been evident that such a service must eventually link ourselves with the rest of the world. Furthermore we understand that when the service is open to the public the rate will not be very high. Such factors as the time difference must always largely enter into the practicability of such a service and atmospheric conditions may cause trouble for quite a long time yet. Eventually they must be overcome. In the trans-Atlantic service the voices are garbled beyond recognition when they go on the air, and the only instrument that can straighten them is the official receiver at the other end. This must ultimately be resorted to on our service, for it is the only sure means of maintaining secrecy. However, it is too early to discuss the technical arrangements of the new service as until it is definitely open little information can be had. W}MPIRE broadcasting, like the wireless telephone, must come. The last time we raised the question the suggestion had becn turned down definitely by the Imperial Conference on the grounds of technical and financial difficulties. At the same time we were able tv

publish an article which searchingly questioned the technical aspect 1 Of the refusal. From English publications just to hand it appears, that they, too, discountenance the technical aspect and turn attenti to the finance. In a nutshell, the position is that the British Govert}ment does not want to handicap its listeners with the expenses of a station that will be of use mainly to the Dominions. Though its value is being strongly testified to by such men as Sir John Reith, chairman of the British Broadcasting Corporation, it is felt, naturally enough, that the Dominions should share the expenses of the project. © In fact, the B.B.C,. unanimously supported the project when it was | due to come before the conference. It was expected that something ; should be done. But it wasn’t. | It appears that prior to the conference the British authorities . asked Australia what measure of financial support she was prepared fo bear. The amount mentioned was too small, and at that the matter rests. Everyone seems to be confident that. matters will right . themselves and that time will see the establishment: of a worthy Empire broadcasting station; everyone agrees that it will be one of the greatest Bonds of Empire possible; yet no one seems to be doing anything. A small country like Holland has provided an excellent service for not only its colonies but all the world. They even provide an announcer who speaks in seven languages, and yet the greatest Empire the world has known hesitates. Perhaps we shall have to . wait for private enterprise to show the way.