Skip to Main Content A report on the world radio conference held
in Geneva, Switzerland, during the last four months of 1959 is
presented. The Conference was held under auspices of the
International Telecommunication Union, the specialized agency of
the United Nations which deals with radio and other
telecommunication matters at international level. The
organization of the conference is described, to show the
mechanism by which engineers and telecommunication
administrators from many nations work together to produce what
amounts to international legislation in a highly technical
field. The four principal work areas of the conference were:
Radio spectrum allocations; frequency management techniques;
definition of technical terms and establishment of technical
standards; and operating regulations in the aeronautical and
maritime radio services. Major decisions of interest to
engineers in the United States are summarized, including new
terminology which engineers will be expected to learn gradually
in the years