The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly considering a) the rapid progress being made in techniques for bit-rate reduction and for digital modulation; b) that digital emission systems may offer advantages in terms of quality and of spectrum efficiency and that some administrations were planning their introduction in 1995; c) that bit-rate reduction coding of digital TV signals will find wide application for emission by terrestrial and satellite means, for secondary distribution by cable and optical fibre and for pre-recorded delivery media; d) that there are advantages in having a maximum of common elements for the bit-rate reduction codings in the various applications; e) that a number of Radiocommunication Groups are studying or are considering the use of bit-rate reduction techniques, including Study Group 6, Working Party 6S, Working Party 6R for a variety of related applications; f) that commonality with the bit-rate reduction techniques used in related applications (such as equipment for home use) considered by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the ITU-T may offer further advantages; g) that various kinds of applications, for example multi-channel TV, multi-channel sound applications, ancillary data applications, indoor/outdoor portable and mobile reception of TV programs will be introduced as new attractive applications with high flexible and efficiency in multiplex operation; h) that high performance error protection methods will be introduced from the point of view of transmission efficiency and easy implementation in home, portable and mobile receivers; j) that digital modulation methods suitable for the terrestrial transmission paths will be used; k) that strategies of harmonization with existing terrestrial broadcasting will be adopted.