Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited

Amalgamated Wireless Australasia Limited (AWA) was Australia's largest and most prominent manufacturer of radio, telecommunications and audio equipment throughout most of the 20th century. These days it is primarily an ICT services company. The company commenced operations in 1909 as Australasian Wireless Limited (AWL), a Telefunken wireless agent. In 1912 when the English Marconi Company sued the Australian government for infringing their patent (and AWL issued writs against firms using Marconi equipment), the government decided in future to use circuits designed by John Balsillie. Eventually the two settled their differences and in July 1913 formed a new company, Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia) Ltd, with exclusive rights throughout Australasia to the patents, 'present and future', of both Marconi and Telefunken. Later that year, the new entity established the Marconi Telefunken College of Telegraphy (later re-named the Marconi School of Wireless (MSW)). The first chairman was (Sir) Hugh Denison. (Sir) Ernest Fisk, a foundation director, was general and technical manager. In 1916 he became managing director and in 1932 chairman. In 1918, the first radio broadcast from the UK to Australia was received by AWA with then Prime Minister Billy Hughes praising the troops he has just inspected on the western front. In 1930, AWA transmitted the first newsreel pictures from Sydney to London. In 1922 the Australian government, requiring a direct radio service with the UK - in lieu of submarine cables - commissioned AWA to create a service. The government boosted the new company's capital and became its majority shareholder. In 1926, the company established two large beam wireless stations on 180 hectare sites; a receiver site in Victoria at Rockbank near Melbourne and a transmitter site at Ballan near Ballarat which eventually become known as Fiskville. A shortwave beam radiotelegraph service between Australia and Britain [1], undercutting the cable companies, was inaugurated on 8 April 1927 and terminated on 31 May 1969. In 1928 it established a similar service between Australia and Canada. In April 1930 an Empire radiotelephone service commenced.

Workers at AWA's Ashfield, NSW factory in 1936. Photo courtesy State Library of NSW

Prior to World War II, AWA was also a major owner of Australian AM radio stations, before switching to radio manufacturing. During the war, the Marconi School trained an extensive number of people in the military in signals and communications. Additionally, the Department of Defence operated the Ballan facility for military radio operations, though later it reverted back to civilian operations with the Overseas Telecommunications Commission (OTC). Immediately after the war, and from the 1950s through to the 1980s, AWA was extensively involved in the design, development and manufacture of advanced aeronautical navigation and surveillance systems. These systems included the VHF Aural Range (VAR), Distance Measuring Equipment (DME), VHF Omni Range (VOR), and a Microwave Landing System (MLS) called Interscan. Many of these developments were undertaken jointly with the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation [[CSIRO) and the Federal Department of Civil Aviation. In 1954 AWA provided the first (experimental) TV broadcast in Australia during Queen Elizabeth II’s Australian Royal Tour. AWA was a major manufacturer of Australian televisions until the relaxation on import tariffs under the Whitlam Government in the 1970s. In 1975, AWA brought the first Pick minicomputer system to Australia, and sets up a computer service arm. 1979 saw the closure of the MSW. Later that year,the last Australian-made AWA Appliances were produced at the company's Sydney manufacturing plant. In 1988, the company was renamed "AWA Limited". A year later, AWA Computer Support Services was established as an independent business unit. In the early 1990s, unable to compete with cheaper imported appliances, AWA exited the field of domestic appliances, and focused on industrial technology. In 2001 AWA was acquired by Jupiters Limited, who was soon acquired by Tabcorp. Then in 2004, the company was spun off, and is once again an independent company. Today, the company focuses on information and communication technology services,the restoration and deployment of technology in particular. It has seven offices and numerous agents around Australia. It also licences its brand name to Woolworths who use it for generic consumer electronics sold at its outlets, mainly Big W.

External links

• AWA Limited