Wikinventia — Atlas of discoveries and inventions · Industrial Age

First two-way voice transmission by radio — Julio Cervera Baviera

1902 AD · Transmission: Disputed
TechnologyInventionHispanic

Julio Cervera Baviera, a Spanish military engineer, established in 1901 and 1902 the second and third regular radiotelegraph services in history — Tarifa-Ceuta and Cabo de la Nao-Ibiza — after Marconi's between the Isle of Wight and Bournemouth (1898). According to research by Professor Ángel Faus (University of Navarra, *La radio en España, 1896-1977*), Cervera transmitted voice between Cabo de la Nao and Ibiza in 1902 in two-way communication, which would constitute the first documented radiotelephony (voice) transmission, eleven years before Marconi tackled voice transmission. Cervera had visited Marconi's installations on the English Channel in 1899 and obtained his own patents in Spain, Belgium, Germany, and England before the end of that year. Faus's thesis does not have consolidated international academic consensus, but it is based on consultation of more than 8,000 archival documents and has not been refuted by a contrary primary source.

InstitutionSpanish Army Corps of Engineers / Compañía Española de Telegrafía sin Hilos
Historical regionSpain
Primary sourceEnglish patent no. 20084 (1899), Cervera Baviera. Cited in: Mazzotto, D. — L'elettricità (1906). Tarifa-Ceuta and Xàbia-Ibiza transmissions (1901-1902), documentation in the Military Historical Archive
Secondary sourceFaus Belau, Á. — La radio en España (1896-1977). Una historia documental (Taurus, 2007); Dialnet no. 7089297
Original languageSpanish / English (patent)
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