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Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1958)

29 September - 29 November 1958 - Geneva, Switzerland

The 1958 Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) was held at the Bâtiment Electoral in Geneva. The main purpose of the Conference was to revise the Telegraph and Telephone Regulations that were previously adopted in Paris in 1949. There were 1296 proposals submitted to the Conference. A number of changes were made to both the Telegraph and Telephone Regulations; however, the great majority of these changes applied to operating methods.

In response to the suggestion made at the 1949 International Telegraph and Telephone Conference in Paris to develop intercontinental telephone services, significant changes were made to the Telephone Regulations in order to give them universal applicability. Prior to this, the Telephone Regulations largely applied only to the European system, including African and Asian nations which bordered Europe. The principle that the Telephone Regulations should be world-wide in scope was adopted by a large majority of the Conference. However, despite the changes made to the Telephone Regulations that gave them universal applicability, the United States still found them restrictive and refused to sign.

Among the detailed changes made to the Telegraph Regulations, new possibilities for the signals used to draw up telegrams were introduced, and a new chapter (XVI) including provisions concerning the safety of human life was added.

The Conference decided that the existing conference/treaty method was not only becoming too expensive, but more significantly it was too slow to keep up with rapid changes in telegraph and telephone technology. Therefore, it requested that the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee (CCITT) investigate the possibility of substituting CCITT Recommendations for the vast majority of the regulatory treaty obligations. The results of the CCITT investigation were to be presented to the 1973 World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference.
Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1958)
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Outcomes

Telegraph Regulations (Geneva, 1958)(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Telephone Regulations (Geneva, 1958)(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Règlement télégraphique (Genève, 1958)(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Règlement téléphonique (Genève, 1958)(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Reglamento Telegráfico (Ginebra, 1958)(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Reglamento Telefónico (Ginebra, 1958)(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Telegraph Regulations (Geneva, 1958)(中文)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Telephone Regulations (Geneva, 1958)(中文)download PDF PDF (acrobat)

Documents

List of Documents of the Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1958)(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 1-100(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 101-200(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 201-300(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 301-352(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Blue and pink pages (Telegraph Regulations)(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Blue and pink pages (Telephone Regulations)(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Liste des documents de la Conférence administrative télégraphique et téléphonique (Genève, 1958)(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 1-100(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 101-200(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 201-300(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Document No. 301-352(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Pages bleues et roses (Réglement télégraphique)(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Pages bleues et roses (Réglement téléphonique)(Français)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Lista de los Documentos de la Conferencia Administrativa Telegráfica y Telefónica (Ginebra, 1958)(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Documentos No. 1-100(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Documentos No. 101-200(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Documentos No. 201-300(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Documentos No. 301-352(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Paginas azules y rosas (Reglemento telegráfico)(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
Paginas azules y rosas (Reglamento telefónica)(Español)download PDF PDF (acrobat)

Chair

Dr. Håkan Sterky (Sweden)

Countries participating

65

List of participants

List of Participants to the Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1958) [English/French/Spanish](Multilingual)download PDF PDF (acrobat)

Articles

"The Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1958)." Telecommunication Journal 25, no. 11 (1958): 220.(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)
"Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1958)." Telecommunication Journal 26, no. 2 (1959): 24-31.(English)download PDF PDF (acrobat)

Library Catalogue

Link to the Library Catalogue (Geneva, 1958)(Multilingual) URL
YearConference NameAcronymConference TypePlace

1879

International Telegraph Conference (London, 1879)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceLondon

1885

International Telegraph Conference (Berlin, 1885)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceBerlin

1890

International Telegraph Conference (Paris, 1890)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceParis

1896

International Telegraph Conference (Budapest, 1896)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceBudapest

1903

International Telegraph Conference (London, 1903)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceLondon

1908

International Telegraph Conference (Lisbon, 1908)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceLisbon

1925

International Telegraph Conference (Paris, 1925)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceParis

1928

International Telegraph Conference (Brussels, 1928)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceBrussels

1938

International Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Cairo, 1938)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceCairo

1949

International Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Paris, 1949)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceParis

1958

Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1958)

Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceGeneva

1973

World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Geneva, 1973)

WATTC-73Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceGeneva

1988

World Administrative Telegraph and Telephone Conference (Melbourne, 1988)

WATTC-88Telegraph and Telephone ConferenceMelbourne