Frequency allocation (or spectrum allocation or

spectrum management Spectrum management is the process of regulating the use of radio frequencies to promote efficient use and gain a net social benefit.Martin Cave, Chris Doyle, William Webb, ''Modern Spectrum Management'', Cambridge University Press, 2007 The term ...

) is the allocation and regulation of the

electromagnetic spectrum The electromagnetic spectrum is the range of frequencies (the spectrum) of electromagnetic radiation and their respective wavelengths and photon energies. The electromagnetic spectrum covers electromagnetic waves with frequencies ranging from ...

into radio

frequency bands A frequency band is an interval in the frequency domain, delimited by a lower frequency and an upper frequency. The term may refer to a radio band or an interval of some other spectrum. The frequency range of a system is the range over which i ...

, normally done by governments in most countries. Because

radio propagation Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves as they travel, or are propagated, from one point to another in vacuum, or into various parts of the atmosphere. As a form of electromagnetic radiation, like light waves, radio waves are affecte ...

does not stop at national boundaries, governments have sought to harmonise the allocation of RF bands and their standardization.

ITU definition

The

International Telecommunication Union The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Unio ...

defines frequency allocation as being of "a given

frequency band A frequency band is an interval in the frequency domain, delimited by a lower frequency and an upper frequency. The term may refer to a radio band or an interval of some other spectrum. The frequency range of a system is the range over which i ...

for the purpose of its use by one or more terrestrial or space radiocommunication services or the

radio astronomy service Radio astronomy is a subfield of astronomy that studies celestial objects at radio frequencies. The first detection of radio waves from an astronomical object was in 1933, when Karl Jansky at Bell Telephone Laboratories reported radiation coming f ...

under specified conditions".ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems – Article 1.16, definition: allocation (of a frequency band). ''Frequency allocation'' is also a special term, used in national

frequency administration Spectrum management is the process of regulating the use of radio frequencies to promote efficient use and gain a net social benefit.Martin Cave, Chris Doyle, William Webb, ''Modern Spectrum Management'', Cambridge University Press, 2007 The term ...

. Other terms are:

Bodies

Several bodies set standards for frequency allocation, including: *

(ITU) *

European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) was established on June 26, 1959, by nineteen European states in Montreux, Switzerland, as a coordinating body for European state telecommunications and postal ...

(CEPT) *

Inter-American Telecommunication Commission The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission or ''Comisión Interamericana de Telecomunicaciones'' (CITEL) is an entity of the Organization of American States. It was originally created as the Inter-American Electrical Communication Commission at ...

(CITEL) To improve harmonisation in spectrum utilisation, most service allocations are incorporated in national Tables of Frequency Allocations and Utilisations within the responsibility of the appropriate national administration. Allocations are: * primary * secondary * exclusive or shared utilization, within the responsibility of national administrations. Allocations of military usage will be in accordance with the ITU Radio Regulations. In NATO countries, military mobile utilizations are made in accordance with the

NATO Joint Civil/Military Frequency Agreement __NOTOC__ NATO Joint Civil/Military Frequency Agreement (NJFA) and is the universal NATO common civil/military treaty to regulate the military access to the radio frequency spectrum in the range of 14 kHz to 100 GHz in peacetime, during ...

(NJFA).

Examples of frequency allocations

Some of the bands listed (e.g., amateur 1.8–29.7 MHz) have gaps / are not continuous allocations. * BCB is an abbreviation for

broadcast band A broadcast band is a segment of the radio spectrum used for broadcasting. See also * North American broadcast television frequencies * AM broadcasting * FM broadcasting * Dead air * Internet radio * Radio network * Music radio * Old-time radi ...

, for commercial radio news and music broadcasts.

References

External links

International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

ITU Radio Regulations - Volume 1 (Article 5)
international table of frequency allocation by

ITU Region The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in its International Radio Regulations, divides the world into three ITU regions for the purposes of managing the global radio spectrum. Each region has its own set of frequency allocations, the ma ...

. Alternative a
ITU persistent link
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frequency allocation Broadcast engineering Radio resource management Radio spectrum