Telecommunications

12. The early development of the use of radio grew out of the experimentation of radio amateurs (knowns as 'radio hams'). They pushed the boundaries of both the technology and its applications, especially in the use of the higher 'short wave' frequencies (3 - 30 MHz). In 1927 this lead was taken over by the Government when a short-wave radio-telegraph link was established with Apia by the Department of External affairs. The service was extended to Rarotonga in May 1930.
13. Also in 1930 voice telephony equipment was added to the short-wave transmitter installed at Wellington Radio. A public radio-telephone service was opened between New Zealand and Australia on 25 November 1930; and in July 1931 this service was linked with the Australia to UK service. A high - speed radiotelegraph service to San Francisco commenced in 1942.
14. World War II saw the development of new technologies such as radar which now have wide application in navigation and weather prediction. Interest in the short-range communication possibilities of Very High Frequencies (30 - 300 MHz) intensified. Traffic Officers had two-way VHF radios installed in their vehicles and the Police established a one-way broadcast system in Auckland and Wellington in 1946. This was expanded in 1949 to a 2-way VHF system operating at 40 MHz. Around the same time the Post and Telegraph Department¹² was establishing VHF radio toll circuits across Cook Strait. Commercial mobile radiotelephone services, aimed at taxis and delivery firms and the like, were also installed providing wide area coverage through VHF 'repeater' stations located on prominent hilltops. During the 1950's the first microwave bearer links were established in the North Island. In 1965 the first commercial HF radio circuits to Antarctica (Scott Base) were established at Wellington Radio¹³.
15. While the NZPO had a monoply¹⁴ on the provision of commercial mobile services, some private services were licensed. These were often in rural areas where it was not considered viable for the NZPO to establish a service. One of the few significant departures to the NZPO monopoly was the establishment, in October 1969, of a microwave network operating in the 2GHz band for the purpose of reticulating state-owned television services.

Footnotes

¹² The Post and Telegraph Department became the New Zealand Post Office in 1959.

¹³ Later transferred to Himitangi (transmit) and Makara (receive).

¹⁴ Consolidated under the Post Office Act 1989. Regulation 31 of the Radio Regulations 1970 reads 'Except with the authority of the Minister a radio station shall not be used in any way to compete with Government communication services, and shall not transmit or receive any radiocommunications the transmission or reception of which is calculated in the judgement of the Minister to cause a loss of revenue to the Post Office'.