International Telecommunication Union

International Telegraph and Telephone Conference: The International Telegraph and Telephone Conference was held in Paris from May 23 to August 4, 1949 to amend the regulations drawn up at Cairo in 1938. In addition the conference considered questions referred to it by the International Telegraph Consultative Committee. Attention was concentrated on two items: unification of categories of telegrams; and tariff principles. The number of categories of telegrams was reduced from five to three, and all member countries were granted freedom to fix their own terminal and transit rates, as the conference abolished the Cairo regulation which had imposed restrictive rates for countries in the European system in their relations with countries in the extra-European system. The conference devised rules and a method of calculating rentals applicable to the joint use of circuits operated by start-stop apparatus in the European civil aviation system. The telephone regulations devised applied only to countries within the European system, whereas the telegraphy regulations were applicable throughout the world.