International Telecommunication Union

The Administrative Council of ‘the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held its fourteenth session in Geneva from May 19 to June 12, 1959, under the chairmanship of Mr. Alfred F. Langenberger (Switzerland). In preparation for the 1959 conferences, the Council decided to prepare a report for submission to the forthcoming Administrative Radio Conference relating to the implementation of the Atlantic City Table of Frequency Allocations; the report summarized the action taken by the Council with respect to the situation prior to the Extraordinary Administrative Radio Conference, held in Geneva in 1951, and with respect to that arising from the decisions of that Conference. As usual during the session of the Council prior to a Plenipotentiary Conference, the Council also drew up its report to the 1959 Conference on the recent activities of the Union, including questions calling for special attention by the Conference. In its final form, the report was in three parts: Part I related to the activities of the Council and ITU from 1953 to 1959; Part II dealt with the staff and finances of the Union; and Part III covered the various questions to be brought to the attention of the Plenipotentiary Conference. Chief among these matters were the possible assimilation of Union salaries, allowances, and pensions to those of the UN common system, the possible introduction of a consolidated budget and a Working Capital Fund, and problems set by the “ceiling” for the ordinary expenses of the Union.