The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), which has its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, is the United Nations agency for telecommunications with 191 member states.

 

Under a global mandate, ITU carries out vital work within the field of telecommunications. In addition to organizing global events for the telecommunication community, ITU also has a number of other key roles, including the management of radio frequency spectrum and the development of global telecommunications standards, shaping the communication networks of today and tomorrow. ITU also runs a number of initiatives underpinning the growth of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in emerging economies. These initiatives span areas from the provision of training for regulators in newly liberalized markets to the establishment of multipurpose community telecenters in rural, isolated or poorly served areas. Additionally, ITU also provides policy advice to identify emerging trends in the telecommunication environment and their implications for government and industry.

 

In 1865, the International Telegraph Union (ITU) was established. At the 1932 Madrid Conference, the Union decided to change its name to International Telecommunication Union.

 

In 1947, ITU held a conference in Atlantic City with the aim of developing and modernizing the organization. Under an agreement with the newly created United Nations, it became a UN specialized agency on 15 October 1947, and the headquarters of the organization was transferred in 1948 from Bern to Geneva.

 

Under the Constitution of the International Telecommunication Union, the purposes of ITU include maintaining and extending international cooperation between all its member states for the improvement and rational use of telecommunications of all kinds; promoting and offering technical assistance to developing countries in the field of telecommunications, and also promoting the mobilization of the material, human and financial resources needed to improve access to telecommunication services in such countries, etc.

 

The supreme authority of the Union is the Plenipotentiary Conference, a meeting composed of delegations from the Union's member states, held every four years to adopt the underlying policies of the organization and determine its structure and activities.

 

In the period between plenipotentiary conferences, a yearly meeting of the ITU Council acts as the Union's governing body.

 

China joined the ITU in 1920.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2006)