On May 16, 2024, Chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA), Hafeez Ur Rehman, announced the launch of Wi-Fi in the 6GHz band in Pakistan. Previously, on April 18, 2024, the Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) of Pakistan had approved the allocation of the frequency band 5925 – 6425 MHz for the use of license-free RLANs (Wi-Fi 6E) in Pakistan on an unprotected and interference-free basis according to the following technical parameters:

• Frequency band: 5925-6425MHz;
• Power: indoor 23dBm, 10dBm/MHz; 14dBm/MHz outdoors and 10dBm/MHz when operating at a smaller bandwidth.

The PTA notice has allowed type approval to be requested for new products with Wi-Fi 6E technology. In the case of a certified product, if the applicant can prove that the certified product supports Wi-Fi 6E, applicant can apply to the PTA to renew the certificate.

Click this link to view PTA's press release on enabling Wi-Fi 6E.

On 18 April 2024, the UK Department of Commerce and Trade issued Circular 0100/24 amending the list of standards for the General Product Safety Regulations 2005 (S.I. 2005/1803). It is worth noting that the electrical safety standard required in the list of standards is EN IEC 62368-1:2020:A11:2020, which is higher than the harmonized standard of the CE LVD directive, EN IEC 62368-1: 2014/AC:2015, and also higher than its successor version, EN 62368-1 2014/A11:2017, which should be noted when choosing the standard.

Click this link to view the original announcement.

Following a public consultation on the new mobile phone charger by the Brazilian Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) on September 6, 2023, ANATEL published a new regulation, Ato 5155, on April 17, 2024, containing guidelines and test scopes for this product type, which will enter into force on October 14, 2024. The ATO 5155 Act defines safety and EMC testing requirements for DC/DC, AC/DC, and inductive mobile phone chargers. The new Act replaces Act No. 5159 issued in 2022 and Act No. 3481 issued in 2019.

Click this link to view the original text of Ato 5155.

On 15 April 2024, the Macao Post and Telecommunications Bureau (CTT) published Directive No. 64/2024 on the website of the Macao SAR Government, amending Directive No. 198/2014 on low-power short-range radiocommunication equipment. There are two main contents:

• SRD products operating in the 5925-6425 MHz band are exempt from government authorization
• the frequency bands used by radionavigation and radiolocation satellite system receivers are no longer restricted.

The directive entered into force on April 15, 2024. Click this link to view the original text of CTT's Directive 64/2024.

On 15 April 2024, the UK published draft legislation to continue the use of CE marking under the Product Safety and Metrology (Amendment) Regulations beyond 30 December 2024. The legislation, which will result in the UK continuing to accept CE marking indefinitely, is expected to come into force on 1 October 2024.

Click on this link to view the original text of the draft regulations.

On April 11, 2024, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT) issued an announcement updating the list of devices and technical requirements for 5925-6425MHz in the form of a revised device category. These devices can be divided into two categories, and the requirements are as follows:

• Class 1 device: End-user or CPE device with a maximum output power of 24 dBm
• Class 2 equipment: Base station equipment with a maximum output power of 30 dBm, currently only allowed for indoor use.

This update has already taken effect. Click this link to view the original TATT announcement.

Extended Reading: Trinidad and Tobago is located in ITU Region 2, in January 2024 the announcement has stated that the use of 6425-7125MHz will be based onWRC-23. The above resolution does not include 6425-7125MHz, and the subsequent CTTL-T will continue to pay attention to whether TATT will reserve this frequency band for IMT use.

On 10 April 2024, the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) issued an advisory to implement the Communications (Electronic Equipment) Type Approval Regulations 2023 issued in January 2023. In a public statement, MACRA highlighted the following requirements that have recently been introduced:

• Importers, distributors, and suppliers of electronic equipment must obtain a Dealer Registration Certificate issued by MACRA in order to participate in electronic equipment transactions;
• Type-approved devices must clearly display a label indicating compliance with MACRA regulations;
• MACRA will conduct thorough market surveillance of type-approved devices to ensure continued compliance with regulatory standards.

Click this link to view the original announcement.

On April 8, 2024, the Comisión de Regulación de Comunicaciones (CRC) of Colombia published Circular No. 155 of 2024 on its official website, updating the technical standards for the certification of telecommunications terminal equipment in Colombia. This Circular replaces Circular No. 132 issued in 2020.

The recent spectrum auction conducted by the Colombian Ministry of Technology and Communications (MinTIC) has resulted in the spectrum being awarded to several telecom operators, including new frequency bands. To this end, the CRC has developed technical standards for compliance with telecommunication terminal equipment, covering mobile terminals, fixed telephones and satellite phones. Since the frequency bands allocated to mobile services in Colombia include both Band 2/4/5 for North America and Band 7/28/38 for Europe and the list of recognized standards includes FCC Part 22, 24 and 27 as well as the ETSI EN 301 908 series of standards. The CRC also clarified the requirements for EMC and SAR in the same document, with the EMC standard only applicable to Band 7/28/38.

Click this link to view the original circular, which will take effect from the date of publication.

On April 4, 2024, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released draft KDB update for U-NII 6 GHz devices for VLP devices that are already permitted. This update involves the following KDBs:

• KDB 987594 D01: "987594 D01 U-NII 6 GHz General Requirement v03" replaces the previous v02r02;
• KDB 987594 D02: "987594 D02 U-NII 6 GHz EMC Survey v03" replaces the previous v02r01;
• KDB 987594 D03: "987594 D03 U-NII 6 GHz QA v03" replaces the previous v02;
• KDB 987594 D04: "987594 D04 UN6GHz PAG Inventory v03" replaces previous v02.

Click on this link to view the original KDB update.

On 4 April 2024, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) launched a public consultation on the auction of spectrum in the bands 37-37.5 GHz, 37.5-40 GHz and 42.5-43.5 GHz identified by International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT).

Click on this link to view the original consultation. The public consultation is open for comments until 2 May 2024.