‘Regulations for Telecom Equipment Standards, 2023’ to be applicable on all licences issued under 1996 Act

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has prepared “Regulations for Telecom Equipment Standards, 2023” to provide different standards for different classes of telecommunication equipment prescribing therein procedure for testing of telecommunication equipment.

These regulations will be applicable on all licenses issued under the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-organisation) Act, 1996 including those who are in the business of manufacturing and importing of telecommunication equipment.

The applicable standards for 5G are proposed to be (TS 138 101, TS 138 521, TS 138 521-1, TS 138 521-3), describing New Radio (NR) User Equipment (UE) conformance specification, Radio transmission and reception; Protocol Stack compliance in NR (5G).

For 4G the applicable standard is proposed to be (36.521-1, 36.521-3, 134 926, TS 31.121, TS 31.124, TS 136 124, 301 908-1, 301 908-6, 301 908-13, 301 908-18, 301 489-24) with description “Test specification for RF compliance in LTE (4G), RF Radio Resource Management (RRM) compliance in LTE (4G), Protocol Stack compliance in LTE (4G). IMT cellular networks; Harmonised Standard for access to radio spectrum; Part 13: Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E UTRA) User Equipment (UE).

All technical standards for Telecommunication Equip-ment as provided or as specified by the Authority from time to time, where applicable, may be considered for Terminal Equipment or Terrestrial Equipment as defined in these regulations.

Provided that where the Authority has not prescribed any technical standards for a type of terminal equipment, the technical standards laid down by standardisation bodies mentioned in clause 4 of these regulations shall be adopted.

According to the regulations standards for telecommunication equipment issued by following bodies shall be applicable and adopted by the Authority to be used for establishment, maintenance and operation of telecommunication system or the provision of telecommunication services in Pakistan:

i. The ITU Telecommunication Stand-ardization Sector (ITU-T), ii. Directive 2014/53/EU for Radio Equipment Directive (RED), iii. European Standards (EN), iv. Federal Communications Commis-sion (FCC), v. International Organisation for Standardization (ISO), vi. Occupational Health and Safety Assessment Specification (OHSAS), vii. The European Committee for Electro-Technical Standardization (CENELEC), viii. The European Telecommunications Stan-dards Institute (ETSI), ix. The International Electro-Technical Commission (IEC) and its International Special Committee on Radio Interference (CISPR).

Provided that Authority may revise by standard of Telecommunication Equipment as and when required and reflect the same within the regulations from time to time. The minimum technical standards for Telecommunication Equip-ment, inter alia, are categorized as under:

(a) Electromagnetic Compatibility Standards (EMC) – applicable for all Satellite, Terminal, Terrestrial, Telecom and Wireless Equipment, (b) Health and Safety - applicable for all Satellite, Terminal, Terrestrial, Telecom and Wireless Equipment, (c) Optical and laser - applicable for all Devices offering Laser and Optical functionality,(d) Radio Frequency (RF) Communication Standards – applicable to all Telecommunication Equipment using the required radio Frequency. (e) Specific Absorption Rate (SAR) Standards/Human Exposure Standards - applicable for all Mobile Devices using the required radio Frequency, (f) Satellite communication standards - applicable to all Telecommunication Equipment using satellite communication, (g) Terminal Mobile Devices and Communication Standards- applicable to all Terminal Equipment which required radio Frequency, (h) Terrestrial Devices Standards - applicable to all Terrestrial Equipment which required Radio Frequency.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023