licence permits a person or firm in the Colony to establish a radiotelephone station in his office in order that communi- cation may be maintained with his or its vehicles on land, or craft in the waters of the Colony. This is a boon to owners of craft and vehicles and has resulted in considerable saving of time and money.
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
The first year of the transferred telecommunication services under the control of Cable & Wireless, Ltd., ended on 31st October, 1949. These services were formerly administered by
by Government and include the marine, meteorological, aeradio and the technical side of broadcasting. The main expansion during the past year was again in connection with air services. Towards the end of the year, radio traffic on point to point services to China showed a downward trend until finally, in December, communications ceased to all aeradio stations on the mainland of China. monitoring and statistical section has been established on a routine basis at the airport and much valuable information has been gained as a result of its reports. The marine radio service has handled a marked increase in traffic on both the medium and high frequency channels, the total number of transmitted and received messages being 33,688 as compared with 19,549 in 1948.
A
Additional transmitters of higher power have been installed at Cape D'Aguilar radio station by Cable & Wireless, Ltd., for commercial telegraph and radiotelephone services. A huge bulk of commercial traffic has been handled by the Company, to and from all parts of the world. The radiotelephone services operated by Cable & Wireless, Ltd., in conjunction with the Hong Kong Telephone Co., Ltd., between Hong Kong, Manila, Canton and Macau have been augmented with new services to Shanghai and Taipeh, and limited services to the U.S.A. and United Kingdom. The red-letter day for the Colony's communications was the re-institution of the London/Hong Kong direct cable working. Automatic printing was established on the Shanghai and Canton radio circuits.
A main receiving station with expanded facilities is in course of development at Mount Butler, and the new Electra House which has been under construction during the year is nearing completion. This building will also house the Broadcasting Studios which are at present situated in the Gloucester Building in the City of Victoria. A new workshop for the Lines Section was erected at Hung Hom, Kowloon. Another building was constructed for the radio workshops and laboratory in Wanchai.
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