International Telecommunication Union

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is an international organization established to standardize and regulate international radio and telecommunications, founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris in May 17, 1865. Its main tasks include standardization, allocation of the radio spectrum, and organizing interconnection arrangements between different countries to allow international phone calls. (In which regard it performs for telecommunications a similar function to what the UPU performs for postal services.) It is one of the specialized agencies of the United Nations.

See also:

• ITU-T Telecommunications Sector
• ITU-R Radiocommunications Sector
• World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC)
• World Administrative Radio Conferences (WARC)

World Summit on the Information Society

The ITU is serving as the secretariat of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).