INTERNATIONAL RELECOMMUNICATONS COMMISSION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP58-00597A000200020012-7
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 6, 2002
• Sequence Number: 12
• Content Type: REGULATION

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Calendar No. 601
83D CoNoRESS
1st Se88ion
REPORT
No. 602
INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
JULY 18 (legislative day, JULY 6), 1953.-Ordered to be printed
Mr. HICKENLOOPER, from the Committee on Foreign Relations,
submitted the following
REPORT
[To accompany S. J. Res. 98]
The Committee on Foreign Relations, having had under considera-
tion Senate joint resolution (S. J. Res. 96) to strengthen the foreign
relations of the United States by establishing a Commission on Inter-
national Telecommunications, reports the resolution to the Senate,
with amendments, and recommends that it do pass.
1. SUMMARY OF SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 96
Senate Joint Resolution 96 provides for the establishment of a
Commission on International Telecommunications consisting of 9
members, 5 to be appointed by the President of the United States,
2 by the President of the Senate, and 2 by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives. The Commission is directed to study the subject
of international telecommunications and to recommend to the Presi-
dent and to Congress agreements, policies, and measures which will
encourage the effective use of this media in fostering cooperation and
mutual understanding among the free nations of the world. The bill
authorizes $250,000 to carry out the work of the Commission which is
to make a final report not later than December 31, 1954. Such
amendments as were adopted in the committee with respect to Senate
Joint Resolution 96 are designed to make minor adjustments in the
wording of the original draft, to correct typographical errors, and to
make provision for proper accounting and auditing of appropriated
funds.
Provision is made for a small staff but it is anticipated that much of
the work to be done by the Commission would be carried on by
engineering groups and consultants.
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 INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
2. GENERAL PURPOSE
In its report (No. 406, 83d Cong., 1st sess.), the Special Sub-
committee on Overseas Information Programs of the Foreign Relations
Committee, under the chairmanship of Senator Hickenlooper, noted
that the Information Administration had not kept pace with important
developments in telecommunications, particularly television. The
special subcommittee also pointed out that the Information Adminis-
tration had "paid little attention to new telecommunications
methods" for the mass dissemination and exchange of international
information. The subcommittee recommended that a national
commission be established "to study the present status and the
potentialities of the international use of all forms of telecommuni-
cations." Senate Joint : Resolution 96 which the Foreign Relations
Committee approved without objection, would carry into effect this
recommendation of its special subcommittee.
The past decade has witnessed a phenomenal growth in the
technology and use of television and other means of telecommuni-
cations. It is now possible, with existing engineering knowledge, to
construct regional telecommunications networks which would link
the following regions in instantaneous television communication: The
United States and other North Atlantic countries; the United States
and Latin America; the western Pacific; southern and southeast Asia;
and the countries of the Mediterranean. The day of worldwide
television, from an engineering standpoint, is fast approaching.
This new and rapidly developing instrument of communication
can be of inestimable value in carrying out the foreign policies of the
United States. Over 50 nations are already in the process of de-
veloping television networks. The number of television sets in use
abroad has increased from 500,000 in 1950 to over 3 million in 1952.
Within a few years, the worldwide potential television audience may
number as many as 400 million people.
As a medium of the overseas information program, television, if
properly developed, could contact far vaster audiences than is now
possible with the shortwave broadcasts of the Voice. of America. And
it could contact them more effectively. The combined visual-audio
impact of television makes it an ideal medium for the exchange of
ideas with other countries and for the dissemination of information
about this country and its policies. As an educational instrument,
moreover, television holds great promise as a device to help overcome
illiteracy and to alleviate the agricultural and sanitation problems
in the underdeveloped areas. Television, in short, could become a
tremendous force for the growth of international understanding,
international trade, and international peace.
The United States has spearheaded the technical development of
television. Other countries are seeking our advice and guidance in
developing their own television networks. If there is a default of our
leadership in this field, television will develop haphazardly among the
free nations, thereby making increasingly difficult, if not impossible
in a technical sense, the ultimate linking of these nations through this
new and vital means of communication. Initiative on our part now,
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 INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 3
on the other hand, will not only encourage a rational development of
international television but it will probably insure a place for United
States information telecasts on the networks of other countries as
they come more fully into operation.
There is a need to move promptly in this field. The U. S. S. R. has
already established uniform telecasting standards among the countries
of the Soviet bloc and is reported to be planning the installation of
transmitters capable of delivering television signals to many free
nations.
The immediate requirement is for a thorough study of the develop-
ments to date in international telecommunications and for an explora-
tion of the problems and prospects of establishing international co-
operation in this field. Such a study and exploration is essential if
we are to design national policies which will safeguard and advance
the interests of the United States both in the peacetime and emergency
use of this instrument of international contact.
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