Sommerfeld's "wire wave" was of theoretical interest as a propagating mode, but this was decades before technology existed for the generation of sufficiently high radio frequencies for any such experimentation, let alone practical applications.
Sommerfelds "leder bølge" var af teoretisk interesse som en udbredelsesmode, men det var årtier før teknologien eksisterede for genereringen af tilstrækkelig høj radiofrekvenser, så man kunne dengang ikke lave praktiske eksperimenter.