FCC Not Banishing Traditional Label From RF Devices, Officials Say

Makers of RF devices can still put on traditional FCC logos, even though the regulator last month agreed to allow e-labeling as part of an overhaul of Part 2 equipment authorization rules (see 1707130032), an official said Thursday. Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp and Rashmi Doshi, chief of the FCC Lab, appeared on a Telecommunications Industry Association webinar. Doshi said e-labeling isn't a mandate. The order goes to some length to recognize that “the FCC logo is useful, even though we felt that making it mandatory was too much of a burden,” Doshi said. The label is widely recognized outside the U.S., he said. The Department of Commerce and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative are working with other countries on common approaches to e-labeling, Doshi said. The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation has scheduled a conference on the topic for next month, he said. “We’ve already talked to Canada on some of the things that they’re doing.” Knapp said the U.S. is at the “forefront” internationally. “When I go to places like Europe or Asia, we’re always trying to inform people about what we’ve done in the hope that they will follow,” Knapp said. Analysis of RF devices is becoming more complicated, with systems on the market with multiple radios that are software controlled, Knapp said. “The balancing we’re trying to achieve is that you still meet the technical requirements, but you’re not doing 2,000 tests so that by the time you’re done the product is outdated,” Knapp said. “That really is the challenge.”