The ITU Radiocommunication Assembly considering a) the progress in information processing and communication technologies; b) the rapid progress towards digital broadcast delivery systems; c) the potential for such systems to support interactivity for a variety of purposes; d) the development of radiocommunication methods over various delivery media suitable for use in receiving, from users, return communication related to the programme material (vision, sound, multimedia and data); e) that broadcast receivers and multimedia systems which incorporate interactive services are available for consumer use; f) that a number of ITU Recommendations already exist which are related to provision for a return channel, for instance Recommendations ITU-R BT.1667 and ITU-R BT.1832; g) that return information from viewers can be also provided in a deferred way (users have to store and then take care of the delivery of the information); h) the availability of mass storage media in receivers permitting local interaction without the need of a return channel; j) the existence of Recommendation ITU-R BT.1369 “Basic principles for a worldwide common family of systems for the provision of interactive television services”, many of which apply equally to sound, multimedia and data broadcasting; k) the necessity of the development of interactive broadcasting in order to accelerate bridging the digital divide.