Tesla's mode of wireless transmission seems to rely on the capacitor plate at the top, acting on hydrogen ions in the atmosphere, that can propagate a force between towers at any distance, as well as potentially propagating the electrostatic movement via ionosphere. Since it requires a capacitor to be "elastic" enough to transmit the alternating current back and forth, it also needs to have an inductor so that the reactance can be neutralized. And, with that, it can transmit electricity through a single wire conductor, in the case of his global "wireless" system, the Earth ground itself.
