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SOUTH AFRICA: Update on the requirements for Short Range Devices to allow unlicensed use of the lower 6 GHz band

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In May 23, 2023, the Independent Communications Authority Of South Africa, ICASA, published the Notice 1822 of 2023 which amends their Frequency Spectrum Regulations.

This Annex is a very relevant instrument as it matches the allowed applications with frequency bands, max power and acceptable technical references and with this amendment, the authority made new entries for the following ranges:

The regulations were updated for the last time in December 2021 and there was a recent public consultation targeting the 6 GHz band. This amendment is the result of the alignment of the regulatory authority with the technology trends and the participation from industry stakeholders

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?
5925 – 6425 MHz, 122-122.25GHz, 122.25-123GHz, 244-246GHz

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