Wireless in the 1900s

The optimism at the turn of the century

technology advancing rapidly

evolution and progress

alleged statement by the head of the US Patent Office

 

 
early 1900s

wireless and the military

wireless and commercial shipping

wireless and the general public (wireless clubs)

 

 
role - informational
philosophy - point to point

 

 
Could wireless transmit the human voice?

 

 
1906 - Reginald Fessenden (Canadian)

first voice transmission

used a telephone as a microphone and an alternator to generate radio waves

sent a message to ships at sea in the North Atlantic

 

 
1907 - Lee deForest (American)

audion tube (filament, plate, grid)

the key piece of technology for voice transmission

 

 
lawsuits begin!
key patents are tied up in court

 

 
remember the US Navy concerns?

 

 
1914 World War I

British Marconi controlls 90% of all American wireless commercial communication

 

 
President Wilson authorizes the Navy to take over wireless

The Navy will:

coordinate manufacturing (General Electric and Westinghouse)

take over shore stations

put a moratorium on patent suits

engage in patent pooling

 

 
result?

innovation booms

manufacturers grow

military trains thousands of wireless operators

 

 
1916 Alexander Bill

Navy proposes that the government could own wireless and limit foreign ownership

argues that the United States erred with the telegraph

 

 
arguments for:

innovation

good for the economy

national security

 

 
arguments against:

abuse

changing conditions - war/peace

history of private ownership as precedent

 

 
1917 - US entry into World War I shelves the bill

 

 
after the war ends, the bill comes up again
momentum has shifted, the bill dies in 1919

 

 
1919 - President Wilson orders Navy to return all seized shore stations

 

 
This meant a return to the pre-war industry conditions
Navy doesn't like this
Navy goes to a second alternative - if we can't control wireless, can we help form a privately owned American company that can?

Navy and Owen D. Young (GE) begin talking

other wireless industry players get involved

 

 
1919 - Radio Corporation of America formed

the squeeze is put on British Marconi

British Marconi agrees to sell American wireless assets to RCA
historical note: David Sarnoff (Russian) moves from American Marconi to RCA, becomes President of RCA in 1930)

RCA becomes a privately owned, government endorsed monopoly

cross licensing agreements settle many of the patent disputes

 

 
General Electric owned 30% of RCA - right to manufacture receivers
Westinghouse owned 21% - right to manufacture receivers
AT&T owned 10% - right to manufacture and sell transmitters
RCA - right to sell receivers

 

 
a problem: these arrangements saw wireless as a point to point medium

 

 
Early Regulation
1903 - Berlin Convention

need for standards to decrease maritime interference

standards for different wireless systems to communicate with each other

 

 
1906 - Berlin Convention

S-O-S is standardized
US Congress is slow to sign on, fears international regulatory control

finally passes 1910 Wireless Ship Act

US ships had to have wireless equipment and an operator

 

 
1912 - Titanic

the role of wireless

big push for regulation

1912 Radio Act

beefs up wireless regulations and requires wireless transmitters to apply for a licence with the Secretary of Commerce and Labor

 

 

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