ICASA published in the Official Gazette Notice 737 of 2021, with a significant update to the “RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM REGULATIONS, 2015” which is one of the main instruments of the Radio Equipment regulatory framework in South Africa.

The publication responds to the participation of multiple industry stakeholders which contributed to the process aimed at “amending Annexure B of the Radio Frequency Spectrum Regulations”. 

In the document it’s evident the fact that ICASA harmonized many of the unlicensed frequency bands with the applications defined by the CEPT/ERC/REC 70-03, taking several ETSI standards as the technical reference.

From the list of Short Range Devices (SRD), there are several important inclusions such as:

• Inductive applications up to 5000 kHz
• ULP-WMCE
• UHF Wireless Microphones
• DECT Systems (Other than phones)
• UWB and Radiodetermination applications
• Intelligent Transportation Systems
• TTT and Automotive radar up to 81 GHz

In the same document, the Authority reminds us about the mandatory Type Approval requirement for these devices regardless of the unlicensed spectrum status and establishes the conditions and criteria for using each frequency band.

Type Approval Impacted? Relevant instrument in the Type Approval framework
Spectrum Impacted? All unlicensed spectrum is documented in this publication
Imports Impacted? No
Standards: ICASA RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM REGULATIONS, 2015
Product Impacted? SRD, UHF, WLAN, BT, BTLE, Short Range Devices, Radar/Sensors, RTTT, HAPS, IoT, LoRa, UWB