RADIO TODAY

Radio is a part of the electromagnetic spectrum - minute variations in electricity and magnetism that, like ripples on a pool, spread out in waves at the speed of light to give us light itself, x-rays and other rays, and radio.

Suggested theoretically by James Clerk Maxwell in 1873, identified by Heinrich Hertz in 1887 and given practical value by Guglielmo Marconi in 1895, the radio part of the electromagnetic spectrum ranges from a frequency of about three thousand cycles per second to thirty billion cycles per second. Marconi's early experiments were in the lower frequencies.

Today every part of the spectrum is used nationally and internationally in applications including terrestrial and satellite television and sound broadcasting, mobile telephones, radar, amateur and Citizens' Band radio, satellite navigation, air traffic control, radio-astronomy... the list is endless. Give radio its old and more descriptive name - wireless - and consider that in most communication where wire (or optical cables these days) is not involved, wireless is. The instant news report from around the world, the cockpit pictures from the Grand Prix car, the next-generation refrigerator telling the cooker the temperature for the casserole - they all rely on wireless technology.

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And all rely on the wireless signals to be receivable around the world and to be free from interference.

Achieving this is the responsibility of the UK's Radiocommunications Agency and its counterparts around the world. The Agency - the RA - is both the policeman of the radio spectrum and its liberator.

The need to be the former is evident: no radio listener enjoys interference, whether from the pirate station playing garage, or the local taxi company booking a fare. The emergency services - land and sea based - need clear and continuous communication, as does air traffic control.

But communications is also the lifeblood of modern commerce, and a major industry in itself. So RA also has the task of ensuring that Government activities to encourage and facilitate the knowledge-driven economy are encouraged and not impeded by its policies.

Because commerce is global, it is also necessary to co-ordinate these activities with other countries. The complexities of radio are such that there is no "we drive on the left" option: radio crosses frontiers and the radio industry can only function with global standards.

Much international co-ordination is achieved through the United Nations' International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and the RA represents UK interests on this as well as on other bodies. Governments that agree about little else are able to discuss and agree ITU policies - and respect the lead that the UK brings.

The UK is respected in the world radio community because of its history of technological and business innovation, but also because RA is known to closely represent the needs and views of the radio community as a whole. And UK experience, in most cases, reflects world experience.

This is why RA tours the country each year, listening to the views of people who use and depend on radio. It is why the RA attends trade and consumer events, telling audiences about the regulations but also listening to any concerns or problems people may have. It is why RA has a regional organisation with devolved powers, ensuring that actions and reactions are made quickly, directly and accountably, while all the time listening.

Mr Marconi was a visionary. What might he have thought of radio today?

Having developed wireless telegraphy and telephony, radar and microwave, he might not have been too surprised by much of what he would see. Satellite communication would have impressed him, live pictures from the moon would have amazed him, cellular phones might have delighted him with their apparently huge range and with scarcely an aerial at all!

He would, we suggest, be impressed that RA had ensured that wireless was still open to all. Marconi applauded the role of the amateur in promoting the science of radio: he would be pleased to see that - despite the pressure on spectrum and the commercial value put upon it - the amateur still had inexpensive access to radio frequencies.

On the business front, he would have been pleased to see so much employment generated by wireless. As a small businessman, he would have understood the uncertainty and volatility of the marketplace but would have looked to the long-term for reassurance.

He would be impressed that interference had been minimised and well-regulated: he was aware of the problem when designing his Atlantic experiment - would it swamp the maritime radio already in place?

And he would be pleased that wireless had made it easier - through RA and ITU - for nation to talk to nation.

Radio is an integral part of life today. It began to have an impact 100 years ago; it was suspended for two-minutes to mark Marconi's death in 1937. Since then, it has grown and grown. The spectrum may be limited, but more and more can be squeezed into it. Radio is a part of our heritage and those who work in it now - as previously - are privileged to follow Marconi's example.