Wireless Telegraphy / Telegrafia sem fios

In the building of the telegraph station in Funchal, there is a wireless telegraphy station inaugurated on June 2, 1922, with the installation work taking about 15 days. The first experiment took place on June 1, establishing communication with an English steamer at a distance of 150 miles, and with a Portuguese steamer at a distance of 400 miles. Communication was also established with the station in Las Palmas, in the Canary Islands.

During the period of the European war, a wireless telegraphy station operated on behalf of the English government at Quinta Santana, and the news it received from abroad was transmitted daily to the people of Funchal through the newspapers. The Quinta Santana station ceased to operate on April 2, 1919.

By order of the Ministry of Finance, the installation of a radio-telegraph station at Quinta Santana was authorized on December 12, 1921, but such installation never took place.

In 1912, a contract was made with the Marconi Company for the establishment of several wireless telegraphy stations in the country, one of which was in Madeira, but nothing was done due to our government failing to fulfill the obligations it had contracted. In 1922, the same government was authorized by the Congress of the Republic to contract with the said Company for the establishment of a radio-telegraph network, and it should begin by installing and operating at its own expense, without any cost to the State, wireless telegraphy stations in Lisbon, the Azores, Madeira, Cape Verde, Angola, and Mozambique. (1921)