• The simultaneous transmission of the same electromagnetic frequency in the same

area will cause interruption or disruption of the signals, phenomenon called as

Interference.

• Why the threat of Interference: The orbits of geostationary communication

satellites are concentrated in a narrow band 22,300 miles above the equator.
Spacing between the satellites is critical – not because of the chance of physical
interference rather when the radio communication in made on the same
electromagnetic frequencies will cause interference if they face each other.

• A Regulatory body is required to deal with scarcity & must prevent interference
by giving users the rights to transmit on particular frequencies to the exclusion of
the others.

• Basically a regulatory body performs two major functions:

o Allocation of frequencies
o Allotment of frequencies

• These functions are performed by national & international regulators:

o When radio transmission will begin and ends within the borders of a single
country, allocation & allotment is done under domestic/national
regulations.
o When radio transmission is not confined to a single country then
international regulations are needed for this type of transmission.

• So, a combination of national & international regulation is needed to allocate the

resource among services & allot transmission rights to individual users.

• International Radio Frequency Management:

ITU(International Telecommunication Union) establishes technical
standards to govern the power, modulation, and other properties of the radio
transmission, it also allocates frequencies to particular services, it makes
allotments of frequencies among nations and defines conditions under which users
of spectrum have the right to operate free of interference.

• Allocation of frequency in detail: Its actually the allocation of frequency among

the services. ITU specifies the particular ranges of radio frequencies as
appropriate for particular services. e.g. ITU has set certain frequencies ranges for
broadcasting, another for radar, another for satellite communication, another for
radio astronomy and so forth.
Where these allocation are decided: Allocations of frequencies are
decided on at the World Radiocommunication Conferences(WRC’s). Then
they are recorded in the Table of Frequency Allocations set out in the
RADIO REGULATIONS.
 How these allocations are handled at national level: within nations
licensing of frequencies to particular users is done by the National
Regulatory Authorities. And this process is known as “Assignment”.
Is it mandatory for every country to obey these frequency ranges for
the specified purposes ???
It is not mandatory for the member country of ITU to use the frequency
band in precisely the same way. They can offer a single service to a group
of frequencies or they can allocate the same frequencies to different
services in different regions of the world.
In addition to these variations, ITU members may record their
intention to deviate from the particular allocations by making reservations
to the Regulations and placing footnotes in the Table of Frequency
Allocations provided it does not cause any interference.

• Allotment of frequencies in detail: Before assignments may be made within

nations, it is sometimes necessary to allot frequency bands within allocations to
particular nations or regions.

When the International Allotments are necessary: International

allotments are made only when there is a possibility of international
interference. e.g. the signals of a local broadcast station are normally
confined within the country. So, national regulatory authority can use the
entire frequency band allocated such a service to their domestic licensees
without the consultation of the ITU.
But if the transmission of a nation is not confined within its
borders and the licensees of a service have the potential to interfere with
the signals of the other nations’s licensees, then those nations cannot
separately assign the entire frequency spectrum allocated to that service
among the domestic licensees, instead those countries must find a way to
share those frequencies.
How these allotments are done: These allotments are the work of several
organizations like ITU
CEPT (Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology)
ETSI (European Telecommunications Standard Institute)
International Special Committee on Radio Interference