The history of wireless telegraphy and broadcasting in Nauru is characterised by changes in which states governed the island over time. It follows a shift from early twentieth-century proposals for Pacific wireless links to a high-power Telefunken station completed in 1913, which was seized in 1914 and later operated under a League of Nations mandate. Communications were disrupted again during wartime and then rebuilt, and domestic broadcasting developed around independence in 1968, later moving from AM to FM broadcasting, including the launch of Radio Pasifik Nauru in 2007 with support from the University of the South Pacific.
Political background During the wireless era, the island country of Nauru saw a variety of colonial rulers. It was annexed by Germany in 1888 and incorporated into the Marshall Islands protectorate. Following the outbreak of World War I, the island was captured by Australian troops in 1914. The Nauru Island Agreement made in 1919 between the governments of the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand provided for the administration of the island and for working of the phosphate deposits by an intergovernmental British Phosphate Commission (BPC). The terms of the League of Nations Mandate were drawn up in 1920, but it was not till 1923, that the League of Nations gave Australia a trustee mandate over Nauru, with the United Kingdom and New Zealand as co-trustees. Japanese troops occupied Nauru in mid-1942. The Japanese garrison surrendered to Australian troops in September 1945. In 1947, a trusteeship was established by the United Nations, with Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom as trustees. Nauru became self-governing in January 1966, and following a two-year constitutional convention it became independent in 1968.
Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company proposal The earliest reference to the possibility of a wireless station at Nauru is September 1908, when an English syndicate by the name of Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company proposed the establishment of a wide chain of stations across the South Pacific: LINKING THE PACIFIC. COMPLETE WIRELESS SERVICE. A VALUABLE SCHEME. BENEFIT TO SHIPPING. In the cable news yesterday was an item to the effect that the "New 'York Herald" announced that a plan was taking shape to link the important islands of the Pacific by wireless telegraphy. This referred, no doubt, to the scheme proposed by the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company, an English syndicate, whereby not only would the wireless system be installed on the various islands, but connection would also be made between Australia and New Zealand. The company has been working on the scheme for some months, and it is understood that their suggestions are meeting with the favourable consideration of the various Governments concerned. It is intended to thoroughly cover Oceania. Every island or group of importance will be provided with a radio-telegraphic station. The exact location of all these stations has not yet been disclosed, but it is known definitely that among the points selected are Fiji, Samoa, New Hebrides, Solomon, Marshall, Caroline, Gilbert, Fanning, Sandwich, Tahiti, Tonga, and New Guinea. It is also on the cards that the Pacific Phosphates Company will have the installation carried out on their possessions. Ocean and Pleasant Islands. The promoters of the scheme are meeting with every encouragement, and by the end of the year it is anticipated that a start will be made with active preparations for installing the service. The company is to maintain communication, and for so doing is asking the various Governments controlling the places to be benefited, to support the service. It is understood that the Fijian authorities have proposed to pay a large sum for the installation of the service on the principal islands under their jurisdiction. Other islands have agreed to co-operate with the company, but nothing has yet been decided with regard to the two most important centres, Australia and New Zealand, without which the scheme would be incomplete. The matter has been considered by the Governments of the Commonwealth and the Dominion, and it is an open secret that the proposal has been favourably received. The question will be placed before the Federal Parliament when it meets, and should the scheme be approved of, and New Zealand be willing, no time will be lost in getting on with the work of linking up the scattered groups. It has been decided to make Suva the head-quarters in the Pacific, and from there the messages will be flashed on to Australia and New Zealand. In the Pacific the scheme is being strongly supported, as it is well known that there is little chance of a cable service between the scattered islands being installed. Traders recognise the necessity of a faster means of communication than they now possess, and once the system is started it will not be long before every island of importance is connected. In addition to the scheme proving most valuable from a commercial point of view, it will be of considerable assistance to meteorologists in forecasting the weather, as daily reports can be sent from the outlying parts giving warning of sudden changes, which will enable traders and others to prepare for the hurricanes which prove so disastrous in the islands. Then, again, it is claimed that the system will prove of valuable assistance in the matter of defence, as with stations scattered all over the Pacific, a hostile fleet will have little chance of getting close to Australia without being seen. Apart from the increased convenience to be derived from a radio service through the islands, such an installation will be of financial benefit to the Commonwealth. It is intended to transmit all messages received at Fiji from the other islands to Sydney and New Zealand by means of the Pacific Company's cable. This will materially increase the earnings of that body and the Federal Government will not be called upon to make up such a large deficiency as it does at present. It is not intended to utilise the radio service between Fiji and Australia except as an emergency, as once a cable is installed the wireless system cannot profitably compete with it. However, a wireless station will be put in close proximity to the cable station, and should the latter service be interrupted by any means, communication can be maintained with the new system. Another important feature of the scheme is its value to the shipping industry. With radio stations scattered about the Pacific Ocean and on the Australian and New Zealand coasts, the shipping companies will be able to install apparatus on their boats, and thus be able to maintain communication con-stantly with the shore. In fact, negotiations have been carried on between the Union Steamship Company and the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraphic Company with regard to the installation of the service on their liners, and it is understood that directly the island scheme is settled, all the New Zealand and island boats will be fitted with apparatus. This would prove of considerable convenience to shipping people, besides being a safeguard against such accidents as might easily befall a vessel drifting about disabled, as the Hawea did last month. The system of wireless telegraphy to be used in linking up the islands is the Poulson. This is the latest invention, being an arc system instead of a spark. The company originally used the De Forest idea, but as it found the Poulson to be much more reliable and less expensive, it altered all its stations, and installed the Danish invention. The system has been found to be thoroughly efficient. Several lines of steamers are fitted with it, and messages have been received from a distance of 2500 miles. A thoroughly competent operator can send as many as a hundred words a minute through the air, but the average sending speed is 30 words a minute.
The loss of the Aeon in September 1908 was just one of many shipping losses in the maritime history of the Pacific, but the extraordinarily long time before the loss could be confirmed was used as leverage to progress the proposal of the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company. Further support to the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company proposal was offered in October 1908 by the Bureau of Manufacturers of the United States. It was noted that of the proposed capital of £70,000 the owners of the phosphate deposits on Ocean and Pleasant Islands have subscribed £10,000 and that it has not yet been decided where the main office of the proposed company will be.
Despite a clear disposition by the Australian Government for a Postmaster-General's Department controlled and operated network of coastal stations, the Government came out, at least in principle, in favour of the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company scheme: LINKING THE PACIFIC. WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY SCHEME. COMMONWEALTH GOVERNMENT APPROVES. An important scheme for linking Australia and New Zealand with many of the principal islands of the Pacific has received the preliminary approval of the Commonwealth Prime Minister, and negotiations are now proceeding between Mr. Deakin and Sir Joseph Ward with the object of defining formally the relations of the two Governments and the business men who are backing the project. The scheme is the child of an English syndicate, the Pacific Islands Radio Telegraph Company, whose representative, Mr. Hamilton, had several interviews with Mr. Deakin when he was in Melbourne a few months ago. The plans of the syndicate are comprehensive, and are said to be viewed with favor by the imperial authorities, as well as by the two Australasian Governments. Every importaunt island or group in Oceania is to be linked with Australia and New Zealand, and the location of radio-telegraphic stations at the principal strategic and commercial centres is already under discussion. It is definitely known that among the islands selected are Fiji, the New Hebrides, the Marshalls, Samoa, the Solomons, the Carolines, the Gilberts, Sandwich, Tonga, Fanning Island, Tahiti, Papua. It is also said to be probable that the Pacific Phosphates Company will have an installation of plant at their depots on Ocean and Pleasant islands. It is further stated that the Government of Fiji has promised to pay a large sum for sub-installations at the small islands under its jurisdiction. The British authorities in other islands have promised similar co-operation. So sanguine are the promoters of success that when certain negotiations in London are complete they propose to make arrangements for the installations to be made early in January, 1909. It has been decided to make Suva the head quarters in the Pacific, and to join the Oceanic wireless services with the cable service of the Pacific Cable Board. Communications have passed between the Union Steamship Company and the syndicate, and it was announced last week in New Zealand that directly the islands scheme is settled all the company's boats will be fitted with wireless apparatus. The New Zealand Government is pressing for an extension of the scheme, so as to embrace the establishment of stations on the Auckland and Chatham Islands. The Australian Prime Minister, when seen on Thursday, said that he was generally favorable to the scheme, but the details had yet to be fully discussed. He had written to Sir Joseph Ward on the matter and expected an answer by any mail.
The formation of the Pacific-Radio Telegraph Company was announced in February 1909: