Frequency Allocation - International Conventions

International Conventions

The range of "radio frequencies" is a matter of international convention. The separation of countries into the three formal ITU RF allocation regions is one source of different RF allocation policies in different parts of the world. The definition of the ITU Regions is based largely on longitude. According to ITU Radio Regulations section 5.1: Member States assign licenses to stations; article 5 of the ITU regulations allocates frequencies to services (such as broadcasting and mobile). The ITU divides the world into five administrative regions:

A

the Americas,

B

Western Europe,

C

Eastern Europe and Northern Asia,

D

Africa, and

E

Asia and Australasia.

The ITU also categorises states into three Radio regulatory Regions:

Region 1

Europe, Middle East, Africa, the former Soviet Union, including Siberia; and Mongolia;

Region 2

North and South America and Pacific (East of the International Date Line);

Region 3

Asia, Australia and the Pacific Rim (West of the International Date Line).

Thus, the RF allocations fundamentally differ between continents. Longitude may traverse continents, for example, the 40°E meridian crosses Europe (Russia), Asia (Middle East) and Africa.

The division between Europe and the other regions is the root of the different RF allocations in the ITU Radio Regulations, and standards around the world. ITU-R Study group 1 details how and why there are three separate Regions.