The main task of the 1959 Administrative Radio Conference was to revise the Radio Regulations and Additional Radio Regulations of Atlantic City, 1947. However, this was complicated due to the major developments in radiocommunication that had taken place in the intervening period between 1947 and 1959. After four months, and despite a variety of challenges, the Conference managed to successfully reach acceptable solutions with respect to the over 6000 proposals submitted to revise the Radio Regulations.

Overall, the Conference succeeded in recognizing and responding to the developments in radio spectrum usage. Among its accomplishments, the Conference agreed to accept new procedures and stricter technical performance requirements for radio equipment as a means to improve the efficiency of the operation of stations using frequencies within the radio spectrum allocated to each service. In addition, it was essential to revise Article 1 of the Radio Regulations to incorporate several new definitions in response to the swift advances in radio engineering and the emergence of new radio services, namely: the space service, the earth-space services, and the radio astronomy service.

Other changes to the existing Radio Regulations included extending and modernizing the international operating procedures for establishing contact and handling messages between ship and shore, between ships, between aircraft and land stations, between aircraft themselves, and between aircraft and ships. In order to facilitate the exchange of information, particularly in distress and rescue operations, a new international standard of pronunciation for various code words used in radio telephone communication by ships and aircraft was agreed upon.

As part of its work, the Conference also had to undertake a thorough overhaul of frequency band allocations, making due allowance for the extraordinary expansion of certain services, such as the broadcasting and aviation services, while providing for the requirements of new radio services such as radio astronomy. Drawing up a new Frequency Allocation Table was a difficult endeavour since it had to accurately reflect the present and future situation of radio services in the various countries. The Conference also devoted much time to the question of the provision of frequencies for space communications and decided to allocate within the Table, and by means of footnotes, frequencies for space research purposes only. Finally, the Conference adopted a Table that extended the allocation of radio spectrum from 10,500 megacycles to 40,000 megacycles - an increase of three times the amount that had been previously allocated.

The Conference also adopted fifteen Resolutions and thirty-seven Recommendations. The Resolutions dealt with matters which could not properly be handled in the Regulations themselves because they were of passing interest, or future interest, only. They did, however, reflect formal decisions taken by the Conference including Resolution 1 which called for the establishment of the Master International Frequency Register which, as of 1 May 1961, replaced the Master Radio Frequency Record.

In addition to revising the Radio Regulations and preparing the new Frequency Allocation Table, the Conference appointed eleven members to the IFRB and instructed the CCIR to study the question of identification of radio emissions from satellites and other space vehicles, as well as the question of providing for the cessation, at appropriate times, of radio emissions from such vehicles.