Amalgamated Wireless

Telecommunications Takes Over Amalgamated Wireless Nationalisation of Overseas Cable and Wireless Services

AMALGAMATED Wireless (A’sia) Ltd, which has served Australia and the Pacific well for many years has now gone out of existence, officially. * In its place we have the Overseas Tele communications Commission (Australia).

This follows the passing of the Tele communications Bill, for the nationalisa tion of external wireless and cable com munications, by the Commonwealth par liament towards the end of 1946. The nationalisation of these services was agreed upon by the governments of Great Britain, Australia and New Zea land.

The Australian Government has held a controlling interest in AWA for many years; the remainder of the shares were held by private individuals who will be compensated, rather generously, out of Government funds.

A circular received from the new Tele communications Commission reads: With the passing, by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, of the Overseas Telecommuni cations Act, 1946, the operation, maintenance and development of all telecommunication ser vices to and from Australia become the re sponsibility of this Commission, which was created for this purpose under the Act. As the first step in the plan, the Commission takes over from Amalgamated Wireless (A/sia), Ltd., the complete operation of the Beam Wireless Service, Overseas Picturegram Service, and the Coastal Radio Service, and also the technical operation of the Overseas Radio Telephone Services as from February 1, 1947.

Overseas radio telephone calls should, how ever, continue to be ordered, as at present, through the Postmaster-General’s Department.

The Commission hopes that you will continue to make full use of the telecommunication facilities it provides, and it will be happy to co-operate with you to ensure that your re quirements are met satisfactorily. rE Head Office of the Commission is at 47 York Street Sydney, with a Branch in Melbourne, and Radio Stations in all States of the Common wealth and in the Territories of Papua and New Guinea. In these latter Ter ritories, stations are at present oper ating at Rabaul, Lae and Port Moresby.

The AWA stations originally located at Samarai and Madang, are now being re installed and other stations will prob ably be added to the Island network in the near future.

Mrs. Iris Schmidt, who had had a hair dressing establishment in Rabaul before the evacuation, has returned to the town to restart her business. Before she went to Rabaul, she spent a few months in Port Moresby.

M. Ambroise Colombani, for many years in the service of the French Gov ernment in Tahiti, died at his home in Papeete on December 27. He was a nat ive of Corsica and went to Tahiti as a young man.

Extraordinary bad fortune attended Mrs. Marcia Russell, who left Sydney in mid-1946, with her husband and her mother, to join her uncle, Dr. G. H.

Vernon, in North East Papua. Very soon after her arrival, Dr. Vernon died sud denly in the Samarai Hospital. In Octo ber, her mother, Mrs. J. H. Dobbin, died in Samarai, and, in the same month, her husband died in Port Moresby. Mrs.

Russell, now alone, has joined the staff of Messrs. Burns Philp & Co. Ltd., in Samarai.

The Rev. W. T. Riley of the London Missionary Society, Daru, Papua, was on leave in Sydney in January.