Radio HEKAPHONE - The first pirate broadcast transmitter in Austria

After World War One, in October 1922 the Austrian federal government decided to privatize the domestic radio activities to provide a commercial oriented entertainment broadcasting service. In spring 1923 twelve competitors applied for a license for radio broadcasting; however, the public telegraph authority did not decide. "Vereinigte Telephonfabriken AG Czeija, Nissl & Co (Czeija/Nissl), one of those twelve competitors, had the know how for trial radio transmissions based on patents of Western Electric Company. From April 1st 1923 they started with a transmitter ("Radio Hekaphon") first located in her own premises in Vienna and later at the "Technologisches Gewerbemuseum" (TGM a technical high school in Vienna). Oskar Koton, a leading engineer from Czeija/Nissl, designed, built, and operated Radio Hekaphon. The public telegraph authority refused those transmissions but the legal status was extremely confused and no possibility to intervention against the transmissions was possible. In contrary, the transmissions met with great public interest. When Radio Hekaphon stopped its transmission in 1924, approximately 30,000 radio receivers were operational throughout Austria.