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What is RFID?

RFID is a generic term for technologies that use radio waves to automatically identify objects. RFID can be thought of as analogous to traditional optical bar-coding, but rather than using light to read the bar code, radio waves are used to read the RFID tag. Using radio means that the tag, and hence the object to be identified, do not have to be in direct line of sight of the reader. This means that the technology is ideal for a range of applications in the retail environment, theft prevention, access control and supporting manufacturing automation, logistics and distribution.

UK Regulations and Equipment Compliance

Ofcom made Regulations in 2005 to permit the use of RFID equipment in the 865-868 MHz band on a licence-exempt basis, in line with a Recommendation from the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications (Recommendation CEPT/ERC/Rec 70-03 Relating to the use of Short Range Devices).

In 2006, the European Commission adopted a similar Decision, binding on Member States, in order to ensure legal stability in the EU of the frequency harmonisation achieved by CEPT.

The Decision is fundamentally in line with the UK Regulations. It mandates authorisation on a licence-exempt basis, with the same basic technical parameters proposed by CEPT. However, the Decision removes some technical restrictions included in the CEPT Recommendation and the UK Regulations. These are related to the operation of a “listen before talk” (LBT) polite protocol, the duration of signals and the shape of signal beams. The Commission considered, and Member States agreed, that it was not necessary for the Decision to mandate these restrictions since the use of RFID equipment must comply with the essential requirements of the Radio and Telecommunications Terminal Equipment (R&TTE) Directive in order to protect other spectrum users. This compliance can be achieved through the use of the relevant Harmonised Standard (EN 302 208) or by delivering the same level of protection as the Harmonised Standard.

Effect of proposed change

In accordance with the Decision, Ofcom has removed all technical restrictions from the UK Regulations other than those restrictions on frequency band, channel bandwidth and maximum permissible power, all of which remained unchanged. As stated above, however, the removal of these restrictions from UK legislation does not mean that they need no longer be observed since they remain in the Harmonised Standard for the protection of other spectrum users.

Further details on equipment compliance, the R&TTE Directive and the obligations on those placing RFID equipment onto the market or bringing apparatus into use are available at www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/tech/RTEE/.

Regulations

Regulations authorising the licence-exempt use of RFID equipment in the 865-868 MHz band can be found at: www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/isu/licence_exempt/regulations/

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