Government monopoly

3. The first official mention of radio in New Zealand is a 17 October 1902 notification to mariners of a list of stations established by the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company, albeit there were none in the southern hemisphere, let alone New Zealand. Nevertheless the New Zealand Government was reputedly first in the world to take control of the use of the new technology by way of the New Zealand Wireless Telegraphy Act 1903⁴. In essence only the Government was permitted to receive and transmit wireless communications and anyone else who did so without permission was liable to a £500 fine and confiscation of equipment. As Albert Pitt, the Attorney-General, stated to Parliament at the time "the whole principle of the Bill is that the Government intend to acquire a monopoly of this system in the colony". One of the main concerns, as outlined by the Postmaster - General of the day, was that the new wireless telegraphy technology might render the wired telegraphy network obsolete and thereby deprive the Government of revenue.
4. The first public demonstration of radio in New Zealand was given by the Marconi Company at the 1906 Christchurch International Exhibition. The military and maritime potential of radio was spurred by the Radio-telegraph Convention signed at Berlin on 3 November 1906, which the New Zealand Government ratified the following year. The first message by wireless from New Zealand to another country was sent on 3 February 1908 from Sir Joseph Ward on board the HMS Pioneer berthed at Wellington. The message was relayed by the HMS Powerful in the Tasman Sea to the HMS Psyche berthed at Sydney.
5. In 1909 an Australasian Telegraph Conference was held in Melbourne and this led to a New Zealand Government decision to establish a number of marine radio coast stations at Auckland (ZLD), Wellington (ZLW) and the Chatham Islands (ZLC)⁵. The first station, a 2.5 kilowatt 'spark' transmitter, opened on 26 July 1911 and operated from a tower at the General Post Office in Wellington⁶. In October of that year⁷ the station was transferred to Mount Etako (also known as Mt Wakefield and latterly as Tinakori Hill) where it provided a wireless telegraph service to ships within a 600 mile radius. Two high-power stations with a range of 1250 miles were also planned, one at Awanui (ZLA) in the north and the other at Awarua (ZLB) near Bluff⁸.
6. The frequency of early radio transmitters and receivers was not able to be controlled to any significant degree, thus only one wireless communication at a time could take place in any given geographical area. With the tragic circumstances surrounding the loss of the Titanic in 1912⁹, it was realised that a management framework for radio transmission and reception was necessary to ensure the potential of the technology could be realised. Although the upper range of frequencies suitable for wireless communication was unknown, the concept gradually emerged of the radio spectrum¹⁰ as a public and economic resource, and licensing (the generation of radio waves) as a management tool for the prevention of radio interference.
7. Government regulation of the transmission of radio waves thus had a two-fold purpose - to protect Government revenue (by ensuring there was a Government monopoly on telecommunications), and to organise and allocate frequencies to prevent interference. While the first objective disappeared with the progressive de-regulation of New Zealand telecommunications in the 1980's, spectrum management, albeit within a market allocation framework since 1990, has become increasingly important in maximising the societal benefits and commercial opportunities of radiocommunication technologies.

Footnotes

⁴ See Appendix A for an extract of Hansard relating to the passage of this Act.

⁵ Opened 18 September 1913.

⁶ The first Australian coast radio station opened in Melbourne on 8 February 1912.

⁷ The Auckland station at Musick Point opened at this time.

⁸ Both opened 18 December 1913. Awanui closed on 10 February 1930.

⁹ A wireless-equipped ship, the Californian, was only 10 miles away but the sole wireless operator had gone to bed and there was no international agreement for radio watch-keeping and frequencies of operation.

¹⁰ The range of frequencies of electromagnetic energy capable of sustaining radiocommunications.