The Nice Plenipotentiary Conference agreed to adopt a permanent constitution for ITU. The delegates approved a new two-instrument approach whereby the Union’s most basic principles would be embodied in a permanent instrument known as the Constitution, and the remainder of the provisions would be retained in the Convention to be revised by each Plenipotentiary Conference. The three sets of Administrative Regulations (Telegraph, Telephone and Radio Regulations) would continue as an annex to the Convention.

The Conference felt that ITU’s role in the field of telecommunication development needed further strengthening. It established the Telecommunication Development Bureau (BDT), with an elected Director, in order to place technical assistance to developing countries on the same footing as the Union’s traditional activities of standardization and spectrum management.

A Voluntary Group of Experts (VGE) was created to make proposals for the simplification of the Radio Regulations, and a High Level Committee (HLC) was established to review the Union’s overall structure and working methods.