Yes, they've been the standard specs for decades. Wasn't there talk of extending beyond 1600kHz to squeeze in some extra low-power local channels? Not much use for those with a receiver which won't tune up high enough!
AM broadcast here has become much more noisy over the years. The plethora of stations that have sprung up all over the U.K. and Europe coupled with horrendous levels of wideband interference from computers and all the other modern gadgets means that listening to anything other very strong local signals results in a lot of heterodyning and other assorted crackles, whistles, and noises.
