The Citizens Band radio service originated in the United States as one of several personal radio services regulated by the FCC. Citizens' Band (CB) radio service is intended to be a private two-way voice communication service for use in personal and business activities of the general public. Its communications range is from one to five miles (1.6 to 8 kilometres). The Citizens' Band radio services are described in part 95 of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) and is defined as a personal radio service. . The originally, CB was located in the 460-470 MHz UHF band. There were two classes of CB: A and B. Class B radios had simpler technical requirements but were limited to a smaller range of frequencies. Al Gross, inventor of the walkie-talkie, started Citizen's Radio Corp. in the late 1940s to merchandise Class B handhelds for the general public.Over time, several countries have created similar radio services. While they may be known by other names, such as General Radio Service in Canada, they often use similar frequencies (26 to 28 MHz), and have similar uses, and similar issues with antennas and propagation. Licenses may or may not be required, but eligibility is generally simple. and Some countries have personal radio services in the UHF band, such as the European PMR446 and the Australian UHF CB.CB In Australi, Before CB was authorized in Australia, there were 27 MHz "handphones" which are authorized on several frequencies in between the present CB channels, such as 27.240 MHz. By the mid-1970s, hobbyists were experimenting with these handheld radios, as well as with unauthorized American CB radios. At that time in Australia, the 11 meter band was still used by licensed ham operators but not yet available for CB-type use. In 1977, CB was legalized with an 18-channel bandplan, and later in 1980 the American 40-channel bandplan was adopted. From the outset, the Government attempted to regulate CB radio with licence fees and call-signs etc, but some years later abandoned this approach.After peaking in the 1970s and early 1980s, the use of 27 MHz CB in Australia has fallen dramatically in the last decade. The later introduction of 477 MHz UHF CB, with FM and repeaters, and the proliferation of cheap, compact handheld UHF transceivers have been part of the reason.
In Indonesia, CB radios were first introduced around 1977 when some transceivers were imported illegally from Australia, Japan and the United States. The dates are hard to confirm accurately but certainly early use was known around big cities such as Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Medan.Indonesian Government legalized CB on October 6, 1980 through a decision of the Minister of Communications called the Ministerial Decree on the Licensing for the Operation of Inter-Citizens Radio Communication. Because many people were already using 40-channel radios prior to legalization, the American bandplan, with AM and SSB, was adopted; a VHF band was added later in 1994. On November 10, 1980, the Indonesian Directorate General of Posts and Telecommunications issued another decree establishing RAPI (Radio Antar Penduduk Indonesia) as the official citizens band radio organization in Indonesia.