Guglielmo Marconi formed Communication Companies, first in England then in 1899 here in the United States, to furnish long distance wireless communications for anyone who would pay.       Marconi’s plan was to lease wireless equipment to ships, furnish the trained wireless operators and set up a network of land stations to communicate with them.  He offered a complete package much as cellphone companies do today.  Operators were trained in Babylon, L.I. as well as other locations.        Railroad telegraphers had developed a sort of shorthand using combinations of letters to mean something.  The British operators used CQ as a general call to all stations.  Many of their shorthand signals were adopted for use in wireless communications.  The CQ call came into universal usage at this time.  In 1904 the Marconi Company added the D for distress making it CQD.   An International Congress of Wireless Telegraphy held in Europe came up with several different distress signals.  The SOS combination was agreed upon in 1908, however the Marconi operators continued to use CQD.        The distress signal used when the TITANIC struck an iceberg was still CQD by Jack Phillips, the Marconi operator.  Later at the suggestion of Harold Bride, the other operator he switched to SOS.  It was the signal specified in the new U.S. wireless regulations. Both made it to a lifeboat but Jack Phillips froze to death before being rescued.