Wireless Telegraphy Act is (with its variations) a stock short title

Short title

The short title is the formal name by which a piece of primary legislation may by law be cited in the United Kingdom and other Westminster-influenced jurisdictions , as well as the United States. It contrasts with the long title which, while usually being more fully descriptive of the...

 used for legislation in the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 relating to wireless telegraphy

Wireless telegraphy

Wireless telegraphy is a historical term used today to apply to early radio telegraph communications techniques and practices, particularly those used during the first three decades of radio before the term radio came into use....

.

The Wireless Telegraphy Acts are laws regulating radio communications in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

.

Wireless telegraphy as a concept is defined in British law as "the sending of electro-magnetic energy over paths not provided by a material substance."

The term telegraphy

Telegraphy

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...

, although best known in relation to the electric telegraph, relates to the sending of messages over long-distances. Wireless telegraphy

Wireless telegraphy

Wireless telegraphy is a historical term used today to apply to early radio telegraph communications techniques and practices, particularly those used during the first three decades of radio before the term radio came into use....

 is differentiated from electrical telegraphy in that the messages are transmitted via electromagnetic means (light or radio) rather than via a physical electrical cable connection.

The guardian of the UK's electromagnetic spectrum

Electromagnetic spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of all possible frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. The "electromagnetic spectrum" of an object is the characteristic distribution of electromagnetic radiation emitted or absorbed by that particular object....

 is the communications regulator, Ofcom

Ofcom

Ofcom is the government-approved regulatory authority for the broadcasting and telecommunications industries in the United Kingdom. Ofcom was initially established by the Office of Communications Act 2002. It received its full authority from the Communications Act 2003...

.

Cape Colony (South Africa)

• The Electric Telegraphs Amendment Act 1902 (required wireless masts to be licensed)

Ireland

• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904 and 1906 (pre-independence acts repealed in 1926)
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1926 (the principal Act)
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1956 (concerned with use of radios in vehicles)
• The Broadcasting Authority Act 1960 (established RTÉ
  RTE
  RTÉ is the abbreviation for Raidió Teilifís Éireann, the public broadcasting service of the Republic of Ireland.RTE may also refer to:* Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, 25th Prime Minister of Turkey...
  
   and makes amendments to the 1926 Act in relation to television and interference)
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1972 (concerned mainly with TV receiver licencing)
• The Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Act 1976 (amendments concerning cable TV)
• The Broadcasting And Wireless Telegraphy Act 1988 (concerned mainly with unlicenced broadcasting)
• The Broadcasting Act 1990 (amendments concerning cable TV and unauthorised decoding or interception of broadcast services)
• The Broadcasting Act 2009

United Kingdom

• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1904 (subsequently repealed)
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1906 (subsequently repealed)
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949 c. 54 (subsequently repealed)
• The Marine etc. Broadcasting (Offences) Act 1967 c.41 (banned offshore pirate radio stations, subsequently repealed)
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1967 c. 72
• The Telecommunications Act 1984 (made amendments to the 1949 Act)
• The Broadcasting Act 1990
  Broadcasting Act 1990
  The Broadcasting Act 1990 is a law of the British parliament, often regarded by both its supporters and its critics as a quintessential example of Thatcherism. The aim of the Act was to reform the entire structure of British broadcasting; British television, in particular, had earlier been...
  
   (made extensive amendments to the 1949 and 1967 Acts)
• The Broadcasting Act 1996
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998 c. 6 (introduced spectrum pricing)
• The Office of Communications Act 2002 (created Ofcom)
• The Communications Act 2003
  Communications Act 2003
  The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It gave regulation body Ofcom its full powers. Among other measures, it introduced legal recognition of Community Radio and paved the way for full-time Community Radio services in the UK; as well as controversially...
  
   (provided for new activities relating to spectrum pricing)
• The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006
  Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006
  The Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This Act repealed the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1949....
  
  (c 36)