The Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) of Hong Kong, China has issued three new technical specifications this year, making important updates to the compliance and certification requirements for modern wireless devices entering the Hong Kong market. The new rules give clearer guidance on technical performance and frequency use across several mainstream technologies.

Main changes

1. New type acceptance requirement for LTE equipment. A type acceptance requirement is introduced for LTE user equipment operating in the 1880-1920 MHz unpaired band, covering LTE products such as smartphones, routers and IoT terminals (technical standard TAC 014 Issue 1).

2. Complete technical specification for 5G NR equipment. A full technical specification is established for 5G new radio equipment, covering a wide range of bands from 703 MHz to 28.35 GHz, including the 6 GHz band (6425-7125 MHz), and supporting both Range 1 and Range 2 millimetre wave standalone operation (technical standard HKCA 1085 Issue 1).

3. Updated rules for 6 GHz WLAN. Spectrum use and emission limits for the 6 GHz band (5945-6425 MHz) are formally defined, with EIRP limits of 24 dBm for indoor and 14 dBm for outdoor equipment and separate low power indoor and very low power device categories (technical standard HKCA 1081 Issue 2).

The update further raises the level of standardisation for wireless devices in the Hong Kong market, gives manufacturers and operators a clear compliance basis and supports the orderly deployment and use of next-generation communication technology.