On March 29, 2024, the Ministry of Communications and Media (MIC) of Vietnam issued Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BTTTT to publish the list of ICT equipment that must be certified (CoC) and declared qualified (SDoC), which will take effect on May 15, 2024:

• Certificates of Conformity issued between 15 July 2023 and 14 May 2024 will continue to be valid until the expiration date. However, from July 1, 2025, in addition to the criteria that have already been certified for conformity, products must be additionally certified and declared conformity according to the criteria in Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BTTTT;
• Testing of most products (except wireless access points) under extreme conditions will continue to be discontinued until June 30, 2025. Vietnam's MIC is recently reviewing the QCVN standard, including testing under extreme conditions, for subsequent republication;
• Imported laptops, tablets and PCs and other specific types of goods for self-use will be exempted from certification of conformity and declaration of conformity if there are no more than 3 items per batch;
• Until May 15, 2024, manufacturers and importers can choose the original Circular 04/2023/TT-BTTTT and Circular 10/2023/TT-BTTTT or make a declaration of conformity, a certificate of conformity in accordance with the Circular, or the new Circular 04/2024/TT-BTTTT;
• New standards QCVN 117:2023/BTTTT, QCVN 55:2023/BTTTT, QCVN 110:2023/BTTTT, QCVN 111:2023/BTTTT are enabled.

Regulation for some commonly used standards and devices:

• QCVN 117:2023/BTTTT: Mobile phones must support E-UTRA technology and VoLTE functions, and bands defined in the standard are B1, B3, B5, B8, B28, B40, B41;
• QCVN 127:2021/BTTTT: 5G mobile phones need to support both SA mode and NSA mode, and bands defined in the standard are n1, n3, n5, n8, n28, n40, n41, n77, n78, and n258;
• QCVN 55:2023/BTTTT applies to SRD devices operating in the 9 kHz to 25 MHz frequency range and inductive loop systems operating in the 9 kHz to 30 MHz frequency range: the implementation date is May 15, 2024, which will be earlier than the effective date of the standard (July 1, 2024), and wireless chargers do not need to be tested in accordance with QCVN 55:2023/BTTTT;
• NB-IoT devices do not need to be tested for total radiated power (TRP) and total receiver sensitivity (TRS) in accordance with QCVN 131:2022/BTTTT;
• Non-mobile phone terminal products will no longer be allowed to support only 2G and 3G, and the validity period of the original certificate will not exceed June 30, 2024;
• Devices with Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 capabilities (bands 5925-7125 MHz) can only claim compliance if the manufacturer has made a written commitment to turn off the 6 GHz band and the user is unable to activate the band on their own.

Click this link to view the original text of Circular No. 02/2024/TT-BTTTT.

On March 28, 2024, the Indian Telecommunications Engineering Centre (TEC) issued a notice numbered 1-6/2022-TC/TEC extending the mandatory security testing period for Wi-Fi CPE and IP routers under the MTCTE certification scheme from April 1, 2024 to July 1, 2024.

Click this link to view the original TEC notice.

On March 27, 2024, the Directorate General of Postal and Information Resources and Equipment (SDPPI) of Indonesia issued a regulation numbered NOMOR 109 TAHUN 2024, replacing NOMOR 11 TAHUN 2021 issued in November 2021.

The new regulation updates the list of HKT (mobile phone/PDA/tablet) and non-HKT (other products) authorized laboratories, as well as the following updates:

• Overseas laboratories accredited by SDPPI are required to test telecommunication equipment in accordance with Indonesian national standards or other technical standards valid in Indonesia, with a summary of the results report page;
• The release date of the test report will no longer be limited, but the date of release of the test report for HKT products shall not exceed 5 years from the date of submission of the application
• The test site and laboratory scope must comply with this regulation, and the test report is not allowed at the on-site test site;
• Laser safety is not covered by this regulation, so the laser safety test report must be carried out in a laboratory in Indonesia;
• Regardless of the date of issue, a digital signature is required for all overseas test reports.

A number of laboratory locations of CTTL-T in Beijing are licensed by both HKT and non-HKT.

Click on this link to view the original NOMOR 109 TAHUN 2024 regulation.

On March 22, 2024, Serbia published the official gazette RS 24/2024 in which the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications (MIT) updated the regulations on radio equipment. The regulations set out the requirements for radio equipment, including the class of radio equipment, compliance with radio equipment and software combinations, registration, conformity assessment, and equipment use. The regulation applies to radio equipment, with the exception of the following: radio equipment for use by radio amateurs, marine equipment, aviation equipment, customized evaluation kits for research and development, radio equipment specifically intended for activities related to state activities in the field of public safety, national defense, national security and criminal investigation.

Article 31 of the Regulation restates that manufacturers should use the Serbian Conformity Mark before Serbia signs the Agreement on Conformity Assessment and Acceptance (ACAA) with the EU or accedes to the EU, and after the above-mentioned date, the CE mark.

Annex 11 of the regulation sets out the requirements for common chargers, which are in line with the requirements for common charger in the European Union. The radio equipment must be compatible with a USB-C charger, and the consumer must have the option to purchase a radio with or without a charger.

The new regulations came into effect on March 30, 2024, and will be implemented from June 1, 2024. However, the requirements for personal information and privacy protection, fraud prevention, emergency services, and accessibility will be implemented on August 1, 2025, which is consistent with CE certification, and the implementation date of the requirements for common chargers will also be consistent with CE certification.

Click on this link to view the official gazette for 24/2024.

On March 20, 2024, the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) issued a letter numbered 100/2024/ORCN/SOR-ANATEL clarifying the requirements of Ato 2436 "Minimum Cybersecurity Requirements for Assessing the Conformity of CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) Devices". The letter states that this cybersecurity test is only applicable for end-user CPE devices, with the exception of CPE devices used by enterprises.

Click this link to view the original letter of 100/2024/ORCN/SOR-ANATEL.

On March 17, 2024, Egypt's National Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (NTRA) updated its procecures for the Light, Intermediate, and Tight type approval schemes. Only the flowchart and the corresponding Doc 01 (Light), Doc 02 (Tight) and Doc 03 (Intermediate) procedure documents have been updated. Under this update, manufacturers located in Category 1 or Category 3 countries can follow the Light certification procedure if they have the relevant R&D/manufacturing ISO certificate, and the issuing authority of the certificate is located in the Category 1 country and is recognized by the IAF. Previously, manufacturers located in Category 3 countries were unable to follow the above process. Although China falls into the second category of countries as defined in the document, manufacturer could still follow the Light scheme if the manufacturer has oversea branches in Category 1 or Category 3 countries. For Chinese manufacturers don't have oversea branches, these manufacturers are not affected by this update.

Click on this link to view NTRA's updated certification process page.

On March 14, 2024, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted a report and order on the CyberTrust Mark Program for Wireless Consumer Internet of Things (IoT) Devices. Pursuant to a further notice on rulemaking issued on March 15, 2024, numbered FCC 24-26, the FCC will designate a number of Cybersecurity Label Administrator(CLAs) as certification bodies, with the lead certification body authorizing some CyberLabs to conduct testing. Regulations will be updated to CFR 47 Part 8, and the NISTIR 8425 report "Profile of the IoT Core Baseline for Consumer IoT Products" will be an important reference for subsequent testing standards.

Click this link to view the original FCC 24-26 notice.

On March 11, 2024, the Chilean Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (SUBTEL) published a resolution on the revision of the regulatory regulations for medical implantable communication systems (MICS), which will take effect from the date of publication. The main updates are as follows:

• Operates in the frequency bands 401 - 406 MHz with a maximum radiated power of 25 μW and a maximum bandwidth of 300 kHz, using interference mitigation techniques as outlined in Annex 1 of the International Telecommunication Union Recommendation ITU-R RS.1346 to protect its operation from major spectrum users operating in the said frequency bands;
• Operates in the frequency band of 2400 - 2483.5 MHz with a maximum radiated power of 2.5 mW and frequency hopping technology.

Click this link to view the original resolution.

On March 7, 2024, Indonesia's Minister of Communication and Information, Budi Arie Setiadi, signed a regulation numbered NOMOR 177 TAHUN 2024 requiring the Directorate General of Resources and Posts and Telecommunications (SDPPI) to start performing SAR tests. The requirements for head SAR will be enforced from April 1, 2024, and body SAR and limb SAR will be enforced from August 1, 2024.

Click on this link to view the original text of the regulation.

On 5 March 2024, MCMC Malaysia issued Radio Equipment Class Assignment No. 1 of 2024, which replaces the previous document (Class Assignment No. 1 of 2023) with effect from the date of publication. The revision mainly updates the relevant requirements of the 19th schedule of equipment (satellite broadcasting receiving equipment) and the 27th schedule of equipment (induction application equipment), and there is no impact on other equipment categories.

Click on this link to view the original Radio Equipment Class Assignment No. 1 of 2024.