Following the public consultation held on August 4, 2023 by the Federal Institute of Telecommunications of Mexico (IFETEL) on the use of the certification mark, IFETEL officially published the guidelines in the Official Journal of the Federation (DOF) on December 26, 2023, with the main points of the new guidelines including:

• Certificate holders, as well as importers and subsidiaries, must include the IFT mark in the mark or label of telecommunications or broadcasting equipment,
• The IFT mark must be printed in 100% black and must be clearly visible and legible without the aid of magnification,
• The approved product must include the prefix "IFT" and the certificate number in addition to the IFT mark,
• The mark can only be used for the duration of the certificate of approval for approved products,
• It is not mandatory for products that have been approved or have begun the approval process prior to the entry into force of the guidelines. These products will continue to be protected by their respective current certifications.

The guidelines will go into effect on September 9, 2024. Click this link to view the original guide.

In order to implement the requirements of the Announcement of the CNCA on Improving the Management of Compulsory Product Certification Certificates and Marks (No. 12 of 2023), the China Quality Certification Center issued a notice on December 26, 2023 that it will issue certificates and issue electronic certificates in accordance with the requirements of the above announcement from January 1, 2024. The main points are as follows:

1. the new version of the certificate style: the new version of the compulsory product certification certificate style is detailed in the official website of the China Quality Certification Center (www.cqc.com.cn) certification sample section, including Chinese version and English version.

2. E-certificate document format: It is recommended that the authentication client only obtain the e-certificate. The electronic certificate document format is issued in accordance with China's electronic document exchange and storage format standards, and the OFD (Open Fixed-layout Document) document format is used to issue electronic certificates. You can use OFD professional tools such as Kingsoft WPS (https://www.wps.cn/) and Digital OFD Reader (http://www.suwell.cn/) to view the information of the electronic certificate and verify the electronic signature information of the certificate.

3. Implementation arrangement: From 1 January 2024, certificates will be issued and electronic certificates will be issued in accordance with the above requirements.

4. Note: This adjustment does not involve the requirement of renewal of issued certificates. For CCC certification certificates issued before January 1, 2024 and electronic certificates in PDF file format, the electronic certificates in the new format and OFD document format will be replaced with the renewal of certificates and certificate changes.

Click this link to view the original notice of China Quality Certification Center.

On 22 December 2023, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL) published a notice on its official website inviting public comments on the consultation paper entitled "Spectrum Assignment for Advanced Broadband Services including 5G".

In the consultation paper, TRCSL plans to provide the following spectrum for a period of 10 years:

• 2.5 GHz band: Lot 1 (2500-2510 MHz), Lot 2 (2510-2520 MHz), Lot 3 (2540-2550 MHz);
• 3.5 GHz frequency band: Lot 4 (3.4-3.5 GHz), Lot 5 (3.5-3.6 GHz);
mmWave frequency bands: Lot 6 (27.0-27.1 GHz), Lot 7 (27.1-27.2 GHz), Lot 8 (27.2-27.3 GHz
• ), and Lot 9 (27.3-27.4 GHz).

Click on the link to view the original document. Public consultation will be open until 19 February 2024.

On December 18, 2023, the Directorate General of Postal and Information Resources and Equipment (SDPPI) of Indonesia has issued the Ministerial Decree KEPMEN KOMINFO No. 601/2023 on the Technical Standard for Passive Antennas. The regulation applies to the following antennas: international mobile telecommunications (IMT)-based base stations, microwave link equipment, wireless LAN equipment for backhaul and broadband wireless access equipment. The antenna mentioned above refers to a passive antenna without a radio unit, which is an external antenna that is installed or other external antennas that use connectors with cables or wave-guides.

This technical standard will be implemented from December 18, 2023. For antennas for wireless LAN equipment for backhaul with a gain of ≤16 dBi, this type of antenna will take effect six months after the entry into force of the Ministerial Order.

Click this link to check the original text of the Ministerial Decree KOMINFO No. 601/2023.

The Telecom Engineering Center (TEC) of India announced on December that the mandatory date for security testing of Wi-Fi CPE and IP Routers has been extended for and additional three months.  In the postponement announcement issued on June 12, 2023, the TEC has postponed the mandatory safety testing, which was originally scheduled to begin on July 1, 2023, to January 1, 2024, and has now been rescheduled to begin on April 1, 2024. As of April 1, 2024, TEC will begin accepting online applications for security certifications through the integrated MTCTE and NCCS portals.

Click this link to view the original TEC announcement.

Following a consultation on 6 June 2023, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) published RSS-102 Issue 6 "Radio Frequency (RF) Exposure Compliance for Radiocommunication Equipment (All Frequency Bands)" on 15 December 2023 along with the following supporting documents:

• RSS-102. SAR. MEAS Issue 1 – "Measurement Procedure for Assessing Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Compliance According to RSS-102";
• RSS-102. NS. MEAS Issue 1 – "Measurement Procedures for Assessing Neurostimulation Compliance According to RSS-102";
• RSS-102. NS. SIM Issue 1 – "Simulation Procedure for Assessing Neurostimulation (NS) Compliance According to RSS-102";
• RSS-102. IPD. MEAS Issue 1 – "Measurement Procedures for Assessing Incident Power Density (IPD) Compliance According to RSS-102";
• RSS-102. IPD. SIM Issue 1 – "Simulation Procedure for Assessing Incident Power Density (IPD) Compliance According to RSS-102".

Click this link can be found in the original RSS-102 Issue 6 standard and supporting documents.

The National Telecommunications Commission of Sierra Leone (NATCOM) changed its name to the National Communications Authority (NatCA) on December 15, 2023.

Click on this link to view the press release on NatCA's official website introducing the name change.

In November 2023, the Tanzania Communications Authority (TCRA) published a new version of the Type Approval Guidelines for Electronic Communications Equipment in accordance with the Electronic and Postal Communications Act 2022 Amendment and the Postal Communications (Electronic) Communication Equipment Standards and E-Waste Management Regulations, 2020.

Communications equipment manufacturers, importers, and suppliers ensure that their equipment goes through TCRA's type approval process before it is imported into the United Republic of Tanzania for sale or use. The objectives of the guidelines are to streamline the type approval process in Tanzania under the Act and Regulations, and to develop and align the type approval process with international best practices.

Some of the changes to the new program are summarized below:

• The type approval application should be submitted using the new online type approval system platform, 
• and the applicant should confirm whether the type has been approved through the "Tanzanite" portal database before submitting the application. For models that have already been type-approved, there is no need to re-type-approve the equipment,
• and for all set-top boxes and terminal electronic communication equipment (ECE) connected to a cellular network, samples need to be submitted to the Authority for testing or evaluation. Other equipment is only to be submitted as a sample upon request, 
• and the modular type approval is defined as the host product or the equipment itself should be type approved. If it is intended to be imported separately, the module should be type-approved,
• and definition of software approval: If the device model hosting the particular software is to be type-approved, taking into account the applicable requirements. Where applicable, TCRA may require the manufacturer or type approval applicant to provide information about the security of the software to prevent unauthorized software changes that may alter the operating parameters of the device;
• The TCRA label should be like the following example. The font family should be Arial the the minimum font size should be 5. Elabel is allowed.

Click this link to view the original text of TCRA's new Type Approval Guide for Electronic Communication Equipment.

On December 14, 2023, the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) issued announcements numbered No.463/2023/ORCN/SOR-ANATEL and No.464/2023/ORCN/SOR-ANATEL, postponing the timing of the laboratory's accreditation to December 14, 2024:

• Ato 7971 "Technical Requirements for Approval and Assessment of IPv6 Protocol Compliance in Telecommunications Products" published on June 22, 2023. As the requirements of Ato 7971 are consistent with the IPv6 evaluation requirements of existing telecommunications products, ORCN, the certification and number management agency responsible for ANATEL, has recognized ipv6 test qualified laboratories which support Technical Requirements List - Class I to implement ato 7971 testing for a period of 1 year until the laboratory is accredited per Ato 7971;
• Ato 17087 "Technical Requirements for Approval of Electrical Safety in Conformity Assessment of Telecommunications Products" issued on December 19, 2022 Since the requirements of Ato 17087 are consistent with the requirements of the existing Ato 950, ANATEL allows laboratories with the original Ato 950 qualification to test according to Ato 17087 for a period of 1 year until the laboratory obtains the qualification of Ato 17087. ANATEL also subsequently released No.466/ 2023/ORCN/SOR-ANATEL announcement is only an errata to Announcement No. 463. In addition, ANATEL has announced that it will waive the obligation of visual inspection of product labelling by laboratories until March 27, 2024.

Click this link to view No.463/2023/ORCN/SOR-ANATEL, click this link to view No.464/2023/ORCN/SOR-ANATEL.

On December 13, 2023, the Albanian Electronic Postal Communications Authority (AKEP) issued Decision No. 721/2023 amending Decision No. 378 of the Technical Regulations on the Conformity Assessment Procedure for Radio Equipment. This technical regulation specifies the minimum requirements that radio equipment must meet before it can be placed on the market, distributed and put into service. The Decision makes a number of amendments, mainly including:

• Article 10(9): Radio equipment within the scope of the regulation must be accompanied by a description which must contain information about the charging function of the equipment. The information must also be provided on the label in the format specified in Part IV of Annex I/1. The label must be printed on the instruction manual or affixed to the package. In the absence of packaging, adhesives can be used to attach the label to the radio equipment. The label must be clearly visible, and for devices sold online, the label must be placed close to the price;
• Ariticles 12(4) and 13(2): When providing radio equipment to consumers and other end users, importers and distributors must respectively ensure that: a) the radio equipment has or is being equipped with a label that complies with Article 10 (9) of these Rules;  b) The label is displayed in a visible and legible manner and, in the case of distance selling, the label has been placed close to the price indicator;
• and Article 21(3): Albanian language is replaced by the official language of the country where the authority/Notified Body is located or a language that is easily understood by the authority/Notified Body.

The decision enters into force from the date of publication in the Official Gazette on December 19, 2023. Click on this link to view the original decision.