World Radiocommunication Conference, Geneva 1979 - Germany / Federal Republic of Germany 1979 - 60 Pfennig

From 24 September to presumably 1 December 1979, the World Broadcasting Conference will be held in Geneva for the general revision of the Radio Regulations. The International Telecommunication Union (IFU), the oldest specialized agency of the United Nations based in Geneva, has invited to this conference. Some 140 of the 154 member countries have agreed to participate in this conference with some 1,200 delegates. The usable by radio services frequency spectrum is physically limited and can not be increased arbitrarily. Even with a high development effort for the development of previously technically unusable frequency ranges for wireless messaging nature sets limits. On the other hand, with the economic development of a country, the demand for radio frequencies is also growing. It should also be borne in mind that, due to physical conditions, radio waves do not stop at geographical or political borders. The regulated coexistence of radio services therefore requires international regulations. The basis for this are the International Telecommunication Contract and the Radio Regulations (VO Funk) as part of this contract, each supplemented by national regulations. The provisions of VO Funk are drawn up and defined by World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC). The sometimes stormy development in the field of radio has in the past often required radio management conferences that have changed parts of the VO radio within their responsibilities limited to individual radio services. The different development of the individual radio services led to the need to revise the entire VO radio, which last happened in 1959 at a conference of over 4 months duration. The core of the revision efforts of the WARC, Geneva 1979, will be the table of the frequency band assignments of the VO Funk. It contains the allocations to the various radio services in the frequency range from 10 kilohertz to 275 gigahertz. The allocations will be made by the conference, taking into account technical, operational, economic and possibly other factors. The evaluation of these factors will not happen without disagreements. The conditions for developed and developing countries are all too different, but also for countries with different economic concepts. Here, the field often opens up to long and tough negotiations, which can sometimes require votes, with each country having one vote and deciding the simple majority. The results of the conference will have a strong influence on the development of radio until the turn of the millennium. The tasks resulting from the membership of the Federal Republic of Germany in the IFU are the responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, including the many years of extensive preparation and participation in the WARC, Geneva 1979, to which the Federal Republic of Germany is a large delegation of nearly 50 members, with the participation of the different frequency user groups. (Text: Federal Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Bonn)