On 17 May 2015 ITU the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) will be celebrating its 150th anniversary. For a century and a half ITU has been at the center of advances in communications – from telegraphy through to the modern world of satellites, mobile phones and the Internet. One of the most remarkable advances of the past 150 years has been the incredible increase in both the speed and variety of human communications.
The story of ITU is one of international cooperation in the field of telecommunication. ITU was founded in 1866 in Paris, when twenty European states signed the first International Telegraph Convention and created the International Telegraph Union. In 1932 in Madrid, the International Telegraph Conference and the International Radiotelegraph Conference decided to merge into a single entity and – reflecting its mission for all communication technologies – to give ITU the modern name that it still has today.
In 1947, two years after the foundation of the United Nations, ITU became part of the UN family, as a specialized agency for telecommunication.
At the Additional Plenipotentiary Conference held in Geneva in 1992, the new ITU Convention and the new ITU Constitution were signed. ITU’s new structure was organized into three sectors, dealing with development, standardization and radiocommunication.
ITU’s continuing mission is to achieve the best practical solutions for integrating new technologies as they develop, and to spread their benefits to all. Digital inclusion is an essential part of ITU’s endeavors to connect the world. To promote expansion of new technologies, ITU, together with UNESCO, established the Broadband Commission in 2010. 150th anniversary will celebrated by all ITU’s members – governments of 193 countries, and more than 700 sector members and associates.
