The Rise Of Australasia

Chapter 699 - 525: Wireless Broadcasting Technology

Real estate speculation is a professional matter, naturally left to professionals. Arthur is confident in his subordinates and even more so in the capitalists entering the market after real estate speculation began.

Once started, the United States’ real estate would spread like wildfire, and it would be impossible to extinguish it in a short period.

Even if later on, due to the impacts of economic crises, most of the real estate fire would be extinguished, it would not affect Arthur’s income.

Of course, companies developing real estate in the United States are bound to change their image; at least the controlling parties and capital cannot come from Australasia, and must sever any connection with Australasia on the surface.

For Arthur, February of 1920 brought several pieces of good news.

Firstly, the construction of the new capital proceeded smoothly. After over a year of construction, many houses and facilities had been built, and the new Administrative Court and Royal Palace were under construction, with results expected within one or two years.

As soon as the Royal Palace and Administrative Court are completed, the political center of Australasia can move to the new capital. Sydney will cease to be the capital but will remain the largest city in Australasia.

Among the construction projects in the new capital, one project was specifically approved by Arthur and received his strong support—the construction of the Australasian National Zoo.

The history of zoos is long, and there are many zoos of various sizes in Australasia, with quite a few large-scale ones.

However, the newly built National Zoo is of unprecedented scale and aims to house animals from all around the world. The cost alone is as high as tens of millions of Australian dollars.

As one of Australasia’s future tourist attractions, Arthur specifically instructed that a large number of rare animals from around the world must be collected, and different park areas would be designated for these animals.

Of course, the tens of millions of Australian dollars spent on this are not wasted. Arthur’s hope for the National Zoo is for it to become one of Australasia’s tourist attractions in the future, significantly increasing Australasia’s tourism profile and attracting more foreign tourists.

At the same time, it will also enrich the entertainment lives of Australasians, providing more recreation options for people outside their busy work and mundane life, thereby enhancing their happiness index.

With all these factors in mind, the 10 million Australian dollar cost seems relatively negligible and well worth it.

Besides zoos, there are many botanical gardens, parks, and green spaces.

Saint Arthur Castle has been designed with the full consideration of urban inner development and environmental protection. Arthur’s goal is to create the world’s most livable city and, of course, one of Australasia’s future tourist attractions.

Apart from the progress of the new capital construction, Arthur also received good news regarding breakthroughs in the research of the Royal Science Academy.

Firstly, it is the research on wireless broadcasting technology.

The origins of wireless broadcasting can be traced back to 1873 when British scientist J.C. Maxwell proved the existence of radio waves.

In 1888, German scientist H.R. Hertz generated and received radio waves through spark discharge experiments, promoting research on radio waves in various countries.

By the beginning of the 20th century, sound broadcasts capable of conveying speech and music had already been realized.

Being able to use wireless technology now, compared to history, is already an advancement. Naturally, Arthur would not make even more stringent demands.

As long as it can be used in normal weather, it will satisfy Arthur’s demand for wireless broadcasting technology within the next ten years.

After all, there will be plenty of time for improvements, and Arthur is confident in catching up with the standards of later generations, even if it takes decades of effort, as Australasia can afford to wait.

"What about the construction costs of broadcast stations and transit stations? If we were to set up a comprehensive network in the Australian region, could the government bear the burden?" Arthur continued to ask the questions he wanted answered.

The popularization of broadcast requires considering the cost of building broadcast base stations.

If the cost is too high, it would be troublesome to make it widely available throughout the country, and it could also hinder the use of broadcasting.

"Currently, the construction cost of a broadcast base station is around 6,000 Australian dollars, while the construction cost of a transit station is about 4,000 Australian dollars. Of course, this also depends on the specific geographical environment and the cost of materials and labor required for construction." Martin answered.

"What about the coverage of broadcast stations and transit stations?" Arthur asked.

"In vast plain areas, the coverage of broadcast base stations can be extended to about 20 kilometers, and even as far as 25 kilometers at most. However, if it’s in the mountainous areas, the transmission range will be affected to some extent, and the specific value is not stable.

But it can initially be guaranteed to be around 10 kilometers." Martin continued to hand over another document, answering respectfully:

"The coverage of transit stations in plain areas can be stabilized at 15 kilometers or more, while the same is true in mountainous areas, where it can likely remain stable at around 10 kilometers."

Arthur nodded.

He is satisfied with the signal coverage range of the current base stations and transit stations.

The diameter of a small city is only a few kilometers to tens of kilometers, and generally, 1-2 base stations can provide complete coverage.

Larger cities will require more base stations and transit stations, but there are not many large cities in Australasia, with the largest being Sydney and Melbourne.

In addition, there are vast uninhabited areas and deserts in Western Australia, where there is no need to build base stations and transit stations. After all, you can’t broadcast to the animals in the desert! Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

As a result, a considerable amount of cost can be saved. At least within Australia, at least half of the land does not require base stations and transit stations, and the actual cost needed is entirely within the government’s affordable range.

The areas where broadcast needs to be covered the most, are actually the cities in the southeastern, southern, and northern regions of Australia.

The central and western parts of Australia have deserts and wastelands with almost no population, and base stations do not need to be built there for now.

Constructing broadcast stations on a large-scale basis will help control domestic public opinion, which will be effective for Arthur to strengthen internal public opinion control.

No matter what, public opinion control is the bottom line for Arthur and an essential defense to ensure national security and stability.