Category: Saudi

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) is now requiring an E-Label in all electronic software in all equipment sold in the country. Along with new requirements for radio modules.

This new requirement came into effect on the 20th of July 2021 and affects Mobile Phones, Tablets and Mobile Computers, Mobile Routers and Customer Premises Equipment CPEs, and Cellular IoT devices.

Along with the requirements for the E-Label requirement, the CITC will also require the radio transmission module to have an E-Label as well.

In Saudi Arabia, some categories of products require SASO IECEE Recognition Certificate (SIRC) to obtain the Product CoC and Shipment CoC for clearance of the shipment at the KSA Customs. The SIRC can be received only if the product is tested by Certified Body Testing Laboratory (CBTL) which is IECEE approved and has a valid CB test report and certificate. 

The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) has recently expanded the scope of its SASO IECEE Recognition Certificate (SIRC) program by 2021. Thus, the following types of product require SIRC from September 1, 2021: 

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Coffee makers

Water kettles

Electric oil fryers

Electrical cables

Video game consoles and accessories

All types of electric pumps providing five horsepower or less

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Moreover, starting from November 1, 2021 the following electro technical products will also require SIRC:

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Circuit breakers

Mobile device charger cables

Electric shavers

Desktop computers

The Communications and Information Technology Commission of Saudi Arabia (CITC) issued technical specification GEN002 “Requirements for specific ICT Equipment”. The specification became valid from July 20, 2021. According to this document, the CITC specifies the requirements for the following product categories:

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• Mobile phones, tablets, and mobile computers
• Mobile routers and customer premises equipment (CPEs)
• Cellular IoT devices

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Thus, mobile phones, tablets and mobile computers must support at least LTE (4G) technology. However, in this specification the CITC strongly recommends manufacturers to produce devices that can support 5G NR technology as well as WiFi 6 and WiFi 6e (5.925 – 7.125 GHz) and should also be equipped with eSIM.

The devices must support B1, B3, B8, B20, B28, B40 and B41 (2540-2640MHz) LTE frequency bands.

Please, note that starting from July 1, 2022 devices must also support 5G NR: n1, n3, n8, n28, n40, n71, n77 frequencies to get access to the KSA market.

Moreover, all handsets must support the Cell Broadcast Service (CBS) and starting from October 1, 2021 they also should meet requirements on supporting the Advanced Mobile Location (AML) emergency communication service.

The CITC reminds that all mobile phones, tablets and mobile computers must have CITC E-Label embedded in their software. The E-label shows that the device was approved against CITC requirements and can be sold on the KSA market.

The E-label should be affixed with the type approval certificate number (TA xxxx-y).  

The CITC sets the following requirements for mobile routers and CPEs:

This category of devices must support at least LTE (4G) technology and starting from July 1, 2022 also WiFi6 technology. However, the CITC recommends the manufacturers to produce devices that can also support 5G NR and WiFi 6e (5.925-7.125 GHz) technologies.  

Along with that, they should operate in the following LTE frequency bands: B1, B3, B8, B20, B28, B40 and B41 (2540-2640MHz) and starting from July 1, 2022 devices must also support 5G NR: n1, n3, n8, n28, n40, n71, n77 frequencies to get access to the KSA market.

Cellular IoT devices should support at least LTE (4G), NB-IoT, or LTE-M technologies and operate in B3, B8, B20, and B28 frequency bands.

The CITC also recommends for such devices to be able to operate on LTE/NB-IoT/LTE-M: B71 frequency band.

The full text of the technical specification you can find here.

Saudi SASO officially published standard SASO-IEC-62368-1:2020 “Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment – Part 1: Safety requirements” in the end of November 2020 and announced the transition from the Standards SASO-IEC-60950-1 and SASO-IEC-60065 to SASO-IEC-62368-1 for Audio/video, information and communication technology equipment that should be ended on July 1, 2021. However, recently the SASO has notified the postponement of the implementation date of SASO IEC 62368-1:2020. Thus, the new standard will be effective from January 1, 2023.

This national standard is equivalent to IEC 62368-1:2018 standard and was developed as identical to IEC 62368-1:2018. So test reports issued against the requirements of the previous version of the standard SASO IEC 62368-1:2017 (IEC 62368-1:2014) will be accepted until December 30, 2022.

Thus, audio/video and IT/office equipment product such as but not limited to:

Non-professional stand-alone audio products:

Radio

Record players

Disc players

Mp3 players

Speaker systems

Amplifiers

Sound bars (Bluetooth or otherwise)

Other audio products

Non-professional stand-alone video playing and recording systems:

VCD, DVD, Blu-ray players

Digital still and video cameras

Game consoles

Projectors

Videoke/Karaoke multimedia systems

TV decoders and set-top boxes

Consumer desktops and laptop computers, all-in-one PCs

Tablets

Printers/scanners includes office printers, multi-function printers (MFP)

should meet the requirements of SASO IEC 62368-1:2020 and have valid SASO IECEE Recognition Certificate (SIRC) against SASO-IEC-62368-1:2020 requirements in order to obtain the P-CoCs/S-CoCs on SABER Platform from January 2023.
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The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) of Saudi Arabia opened a public consultation on June 10, 2021 regarding “Radio Spectrum Allocation and Use Regulation for WLAN Application to “introduce updates to the allocation and use regulations of the WLAN frequency bands in Saudi Arabia and identifies new spectrum for the use of WLAN applications in (6) and (60) GHz bands. These updates aim to enable the latest wireless technologies in the Kingdom which include the sixth generation of Wi-Fi technologies (WiFi – 6e), WiGig technology, virtual and augmented reality (VR / AR) and Internet of Things (IoT).” The consultation can be accessed by using this link;

Comments will be accepted until July 8, 2021.

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has launched a public consultation on the modernization of technical specifications for communication and information technology devices and equipment to accommodate the latest technological developments and enable the provisioning of state of the art communication and information technology services in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These specifications define how all communication and information technology devices and equipment manufactured or imported to the Kingdom are used, with conformance to them being mandatory for all parties manufacturing, importing or selling these devices and equipment in the Kingdom.

The primary objectives of this update are to improve the quality of services using these devices and equipment and enable the provisioning of state of the art communication and information technology services in the Kingdom to satisfy the Kingdom’s digital needs as per CITC’s strategy to transform into a digital regulator.

Views are welcome from local and international telecom and technology providers, industrial stakeholders, public entities and members of the public as well as consumers of telecom and digital services. The submissions from interested parties are open till the 3rd of April, 2021. Interested parties are requested to answer the questions listed in the “Consultation Questions” section

Source : https://www.citc.gov.sa/en/new/publicConsultation/Pages/144202.aspx

The Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) published a follow up public consultation on its “Spectrum Outlook for Commercial and Innovative Use 2021-2023″, along with responses received to the previous public consultation, which took place in July 2020, on “Spectrum for IMT-2020 and beyond: Fostering Commercial and Innovative Use of Radio in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia”.

The consultation proposes a plan to release more than 20 GHz of additional radio spectrum, with the aim of promoting further innovation and investment in multiple wireless technologies within the Kingdom’s commercial sector. This progressive spectrum policy aims to enable Saudi Arabia’s transformation into a leading digital society, in line with Vision 2030 and CITC’s National Spectrum Strategy (NSS).

CITC is inviting all interested parties, both local and international, to provide comments on the updated spectrum outlook. CITC welcomes the participation of telecom and technology providers, industrial stakeholders, public entities, members of the public as well as consumers of telecom and digital services. Submissions can be made until 28 February 2021

Please be informed that CITC has announced an additional requirement as below with respect to 4G technology support in tracking devices and machine-to-machine communication (M2M)

Further to what was clarified previously, where we have emphasized that all importers of CITC devices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia must comply with the technical specification (RI056) issued by the Committee and which included that all terminal devices must – at minimum – support 4G and cellular transmission service in addition to applying the electronic label.

Based on that, the Committee would like to emphasize that these kind of devices must include the above-stated requirements. Otherwise such terminal devices will not be released or approved.

This requirement to support 4G technology in tracking devices and machine-to-machine communication (M2M) will come into force on 1/1/2020.

 Source: CITC email.