The 90th Anniversary of the CCIR / ITU Radiocommunication (ITU‑R) Study Groupsoccured in November 2017, to honour the anniversary of the signing on 25 November 1927, of the Final Acts of the International Radiotelegraph Convention of Washington, 1927 which created CCIR (see figure 1).
The “International Radio Consultative Committee” or “Comité Consultatif International pour la Radio” (CCIR) was founded in 1927 as part of the International Telecommunication Union at the International Radiotelegraph Convention of Washington, 1927.
CCIR’s purpose was to carry out technical studies on radiocommunications. Until 1992, CCIR published international standards, reports and handbooks describing the best practices in radiocommunications, and in particular on the optimum use of spectrum. Among these, were the global standards for analog and digital television and sound broadcasting. CCIR Study Groups also conducted the studies in support of World Radiocommunication Conferences decisions on spectrum allocations and associated technical provisions.
In 1992, the CCIR was merged into the Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R), created by the Additional Plenipotentiary Conference in Geneva, as part of a reform of ITU to give the Union greater flexibility to adapt to an increasingly complex, interactive and competitive telecommunications environment. ITU’s three main areas of activity were organized in “Sectors”: radiocommunications, telecommunication standardization and telecommunication development.
Today, the work of the former CCIR continues to be carried out by the ITU‑R Study Groups, with an extended scope to cover the studies on regulatory and procedural matters for access to spectrum and orbit resources.
