ACMA’s 4 W ruling a win for EPC/RFID

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ruled that radio frequency identification (RFID) devices with up to 4 W of power may now be used in Australia in the 920 to 926 MHz band. This follows four years of significant testing on the use of 4 W RFID devices by industry, led by GS1 Australia and the submission of test data to ACMA for review.

Radio frequency identification is a technology that allows the identification of tagged items using radio waves. An RFID tag with a tiny computer chip, containing the Electronic Product Code (EPC), allows users to identify items uniquely. As no line of sight is required for RFID to read an EPC, the identification process is claimed to be faster and more efficient.

In Australia, the radio frequency spectrum is governed by the ACMA and ultra high frequency (UHF) RFID services come under a low interference potential devices (LIPD) class licence which until now has limited the use of RFID power to 1 W between the 918 to 926 MHz band while much of the world uses 4 W within their allocated frequency range. Robustness of RFID performance is substantially improved with an increase in the allowable power output.

GS1 Australia, which has led the development of industry-driven standards for the EPC in Australia, has consistently lobbied the ACMA for a regulatory change to bring Australia’s passive UHF RFID systems in line with international standards and other countries' regulations.

Three years ago, ACMA issued a scientific licence to GS1 Australia that enabled the organisation to issue third-party authorisations for the use of site-specific 4 W power to companies trialling or looking to implement RFID. The purpose of the scientific licence was to gather data to assist ACMA to determine if an increase in power had any major effect on devices of adjacent users of the spectrum. Reports on these trials and the results of scientific testing were submitted to the ACMA by GS1 Australia in 2007 and 2008.

In December 2008, the ACMA notified GS1 Australia it had "approved the use of RFID devices up to 4 W of power between the 920 to 926 MHz band". This decision was published in the Commonwealth Government Notices Gazette on 15 January 2009.

GS1 CEO Maria Palazzolo welcomed the decision saying it would bring improved efficiencies and greater ROI for companies wanting to use EPC/RFID systems in their supply chain.

GS1 Australia’s General Manager of Standards Development, Sue Schmid, said the decision to approve 4 W removed a barrier to the adoption of EPC/RFID within Australia. “This is a much-needed boost to Australian industry, which can now continue its adoption of this technology. ACMA’s decision is a significant milestone in the journey of EPC/RFID use within Australia,” she said.

GS1 Australia, in conjunction with Australian industry representative RFID vendors, users and industry associations, has developed an implementation guideline to assist companies that wish to use RFID devices with the high power. The objective of this document is to provide a set of installation guidelines that can be used for the deployment, installation and commissioning of RFID readers operating up to 4 W effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) in Australia, to reduce as far as possible interference to global system for mobile communications (GSM) cellular mobile phone networks.