SB QST @ ARL $ARLB024
ARLB024 Saturday is World Telecommunication Day

ZCZC AG24
QST de W1AW
ARRL Bulletin 24  ARLB024
From ARRL Headquarters
Newington CT  May 15, 1997
To all radio amateurs

SB QST ARL ARLB024
ARLB024 Saturday is World Telecommunication Day

Telecommunication and Humanitarian Assistance is the theme of this
year's World Telecommunication Day, scheduled for this Saturday, May
17.  World Telecommunication Day takes place each year on the
anniversary of the creation of the International Telecommunication
Union, May 17, 1865.  A specialized agency of the United Nations,
the ITU has the vital role of overseeing the division of the range
of radio spectrum for the entire world.

Amateur Radio will be featured in a special center to be located in
front of the ITU Headquarters building, at the Place des Nations, in
Geneva, Switzerland.  Special event station operators will use the
call sign 4U1ITU of the International Amateur Radio Club.  The
station is operated in accordance with privileges granted by
Switzerland and the ITU.

The League has arranged a schedule with the Geneva special event
station to convey commemorative messages from ARRL and IARU.  IARU
is a Sector Member of the ITU.  ARRL is the International
Secretariat of the IARU.  U.S. individuals and groups involved in
emergency communication programs such as ARES and RACES are also
invited to contact and exchange messages with the station.  4U1ITU
operations are expected on twenty meters from 0700z to 1900z on May
17, and from 0800z to 1500z on May 18 through May 22.  QSL via the
bureau or IARC, P.O. Box 6, CH-1  211 Geneva 20, Switzerland.

W1AW operators will transmit the following message to 4U1ITU on May
17:

''On the occasion of 1997 World Telecommunication Day, the American
Radio Relay League is pleased to convey this commemorative message
on behalf of United States radio amateurs.  This year's theme of
Telecommunications and Humanitarian Assistance lies at the very
heart of Amateur Radio.  In recent weeks, for example, radio
amateurs in the northern plains of the United States selflessly
provided radio communication assistance, working
shoulder-to-shoulder with relief agencies and the citizenry of
settlements ravaged by catastrophic flooding.  The ARRL hereby sends
its greetings and best wishes to the International Telecommunication
Union on the anniversary of its creation, and looks forward to a
continuing partnership with ITU in support of Amateur Radio's
contributions in domestic and global humanitarianism.''
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