CommLaw Group Senior Managing Attorney, Ron Quirk, published an extensive article in RFID Journal on the effects of new FCC rules on the development of the Internet of Things. Among other things, these rules “de-authorize” numerous foreign and domestic testing laboratories that manufacturers of radio-frequency equipment use to provide compliance reports as part of their applications to obtain certification to sell their devices in the United States.
“The rapidly expanding universe of ‘connected devices’ and the burgeoning Internet of Things (IoT) market offer tremendous moneymaking potential for manufacturers of radio-frequency (RF) emitting products, including RFID readers. New RF devices are being developed, tested, manufactured and sold all over the world. In the interest of controlling production costs, many manufacturers that sell their devices in the United States conduct design and regulatory compliance testing overseas. In just a few short months, however – barring action by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) – manufacturers that conduct R&D and device testing in many countries could see their development costs rapidly increase. The FCC is currently ‘de-authorizing’ various tests laboratories. It is critical that manufacturers stay current on developments that could have an adverse effect on their marketing, both in the U.S. and abroad.”
To read the full article, click here.