The Geneva Frequency Plan of 1975 (Aka "The Final Acts of the Regional Administrative LF/MF Broadcasting Conference (Regions 1 and 3) Geneva, 1975" or simply "GE75") is the internationally agreed
frequency plan
A frequency plan, bandplan, band plan or wavelength plan is a plan for using a particular band of radio frequencies, that are a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Each frequency plan defines the frequency range to be included, how channels a ...
which was drawn up to implement the provisions of the Final Acts of the Regional Administrative LF/MF Broadcasting Conference (Regions 1 and 3) held in
Geneva
Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...
,
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, in 1975. It covers radio broadcasting in the
long
Long may refer to:
Measurement
* Long, characteristic of something of great duration
* Long, characteristic of something of great length
* Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate
* Longa (music), note value in early music mensur ...
and
medium wave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...
bands outside the Americas (
separate agreements being in place for North and South America).
The plan was drawn up under the auspices of the
World Administrative Radio Conference The World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC) was a technical conference of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) where delegates from member nations of the ITU met to revise or amend the entire international radio regulations pertainin ...
(WARC) of 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 ...
(ITU) with the assistance of the
European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...
(EBU/UER).
The Geneva plan replaced the
1948 Copenhagen plan. It became necessary because of the large number of broadcasting stations in these frequency ranges leading to ever more mutual interference (Many countries had refused to ratify the Copenhagen plan and compliance was patchy even among those which had). The Geneva plan entered into force on 23 November 1978 and although its intended lifespan was only until 1989, it is still valid (with small modification by mutual coordination between countries) today, and compliance has been far more widespread.
Most existing European radio stations were required to change their broadcasting frequencies following implementation of the plan. In most cases the changes were slight (less than five kilohertz) but were more drastic in some cases, particularly in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, where all BBC national stations moved to a new wavelength or band. However the increased number of radio services and reduction (in most cases) of interference to radio signals (particularly at nighttime) was considered by most broadcasters to be worth the initial inconvenience.
As a result of the plan most medium wave (and later longwave) stations outside North and South America operate on exact multiples of 9 kHz; the sum of all digits of the frequency will be 9 or a multiple of 9 (see
9#Mathematics).
Predecessors to the GE75 Plan
* Geneva 1925 (effective 14 November 1926) 10 kHz spacings on MW;
* Brussels 1928 (effective 13 January 1929) 9 kHz spacings on MW (10 kHz above 1000 kHz);
* Prague 1929 (effective 30 June 1929) "European Radio-electric Conference of Prague 1929" 9 kHz spacings on MW (10 kHz above 1400 kHz);
* Madrid/Lucerne 1932 (effective 15 January 1934 , pages12-13) "Lucerne Convention European
Wavelength Plan
A frequency plan, bandplan, band plan or wavelength plan is a plan for using a particular band of radio frequencies, that are a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Each frequency plan defines the frequency range to be included, how channels a ...
" Mostly 9 kHz spacings but not harmonic multiples;
* Montreux 1939 (was to be effective 1940 but never implemented due to World War II );;
* Copenhagen 1948
(effective 15 March 1950) "European LW/MW Conference Copenhagen 1948 (European broadcasting convention)" Mostly 9 kHz (8 kHz above 1529 kHz 7, 8, and 9 kHz on LW) spacings but not harmonic multiples—offset 1 kHz on MW and (generally) 2 kHz on LW.
See also
*
AM radio
AM broadcasting is radio broadcasting using amplitude modulation (AM) transmissions. It was the first method developed for making audio radio transmissions, and is still used worldwide, primarily for medium wave (also known as "AM band") transm ...
*
Mediumwave
Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. During the daytime ...
*
MW DX
MW DX, short for mediumwave DXing, is the hobby of receiving distant mediumwave (also known as '' AM'') radio stations. MW DX is similar to TV and FM DX in that broadcast band (BCB) stations are the reception targets. However, the nature of the lo ...
*
Longwave
In radio, longwave, long wave or long-wave, and commonly abbreviated LW, refers to parts of the radio spectrum with wavelengths longer than what was originally called the medium-wave broadcasting band. The term is historic, dating from the e ...
*
North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement
The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement (NARBA, es, Convenio Regional Norteamericano de Radiodifusión) refers to a series of international treaties that defined technical standards for AM band (mediumwave) radio stations. These agreem ...
References
External links
GE75 Final Acts (including original plan)(PDF format)
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{{Telecommunications
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1975 in radio
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