This press release is published in French, English and Spanish. For further information, or for additional copies in one of the languages, please contact the Press Office, International Telecommunication Union. An agreement between the ITU and the Turkish government was signed today at ITU Headquarters. Radiocommunications are currently a fast growing segment of the international telecommunications market, with an ever-expanding range of new applications.
Turkey is a land of many cultures, at the cross-road between Europe and Asia.
Istanbul itself is built on two continents. The four-week long conference, which is held every two to three years, is the forum where countries decide on the shared use of the frequency spectrum to allow the deployment or growth of all types of radiocommunication services, from television and radio broadcasting to mobile telephony, maritime and aeronautical navigation and safety systems, and science services. Delegations led by senior government officials and including executives from the corporate world will negotiate on how to make use of the radio-frequency spectrum a finite resource equitably and to improve spectrum efficiency of radiocommunications services that is, the ability to deliver the same service using less spectrum or to share spectrum with other services without causing harmful interference. One of the most important tasks of each World Radiocommunication Conference is to examine and decide on proposals for new or revised frequency allocations required for the introduction of new services or expansion of existing ones. As the usable portion of the frequency spectrum becomes ever-more heavily subscribed, and as more and more new services clamour for the allocations needed to make their systems operational, the stakes at each conference are getting higher and higher.