Department of  National  Development  and Energy IMews Release

PO Box 5 Canberra 26 00

/ /

GMT TO BE REPLACED IN INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS

New regulations adopted by the International Telecommunications

Union will result in the use of Universal Coordinated Time (UTC)  instead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) from 1 January, 1982, in

all international telecommunications activities.

The time scale UTC was introduced throughout the world on Â· 1 January 1972, and since then has been the basis for Australian

Eastern Standard Time.

Greenwich Mean Time and Universal Coordinated Time differ in that

GMT is based on the variable rotation of the earth with respect

to the sun and corresponds to the mean solar time on the Â· ' .   meridian of Greenwich; Universal Coordinated Time is based ori, an

international atomic time scale. .

The difference between UTC and GMT has not exceeded 0.7 seconds  since 1972, and will never be allowed to exceed 0.9 seconds.

This is achieved by periodic adjustments of one second in UTC.

The difference is important to those who rely on accurate time  for their work, such as navigators and surveyors.  Correction is

available from the time service on short wave station VNG

Lyndhurst,  Victoria, to convert UTC to GMT with an accuracy of  about 1/lOth of a second. .  Ã¢ÂÂ  =

Further information may be obtained by writing to Mr B. Sloane,

Division of National Mapping, PO Box 31, Belconnen, ACT 2616,

or telephone (062) 525172. '

Canberra

12 November 1981 .

