October, 2022
The National Telecommunications Agency (ANATEL) in Brazil has published Official Letter No. 218/2022 with guidelines for the certification of Radio Frequency (RF) modules.
Click here to see the official document.
Detachable RF Module – RF circuit consisting of an independent board of the main PCB (motherboard) of the final product that can be connected through solder or slot.
Non-detachable RF Module – RF circuit designed as part of the main board (motherboard) circuit, which cannot be removed.
Type of Product | Detachable RF Module | Non-detachable RF Module (integrated in the host PCB) |
Non-Telecom product (TV, Medical, Household, Lamp, etc.) | Only RF module must be approved (host approval is optional) | Host product must be approved |
Non-Telecom product with RF function responsible for its primary purpose (intended use) (**) | Host product must be approved | Host product must be approved |
Telecom product | Host product must be approved (***)(****) | Host product must be approved |
(*) Chipset only cannot be considered as a module.
(**) Devices that depends on the RF function for its primary function of intended use. Example: Medical device that collects the patient signal and transmits to the Doctor by Bluetooth or WIFI, considering this medical device has no other ways to transmit the signal, except by RF.
(***) In case the host can use different RF module’s suppliers but with the same specification/technology (considering they are pin to pin, no changes in the layout/PCB), it is possible to approve all versions in the same certificate, but testing all versions. This was not allowed before.
(****) In case the host can be sold with different variants, where there is one main version (the most complex) and others are sub-versions, only main version is tested and all variants can be listed in the same certificate. Example: Tablet sold in two versions being WWAN+WLAN as main and only WLAN as variant, where the difference is only the components removal or blocking by FW the WWAN function.
Final products using RF module already approved have two options:
Authorization to use the Certificate of Homologation of the RF module
Authorization must be signed by the Local Representative listed in the CoH
The module installed inside the host must have the ANATEL ID on its label
It does not need internal photos of the module already approved
Incumbency letter required from local rep to show commitment to formally inform its customers of the obligation to include the following information in the manual or in the user guide or in the final product, which includes the approved module:
"Incorpora produto homologado pela Anatel sob número HHHHH-AA-FFFFF".
The applicant must also undertake to formally guide its customers on the affixing of the restricted radiation label, when applicable, and indication of the address of Anatel's website on the Internet in the final product manual, such as:
"Este equipamento não tem direito à proteção contra interferência prejudicial e não pode causar interferência em sistemas devidamente autorizados. Para mais informações, consulte o site da Anatel: https://www.gov.br/anatel/pt-br. “
During the host renewal, the RF module certificate must be valid. In case it expired, the options are getting the module’s renewal or doing RF testing at the host level. Another possibility in this case is if the host applicant can provide the purchase invoice (Nota Fiscal) to prove the module’s certificate was valid when they bought the RF modules.
2. Authorization to use the test reports of the RF module
Authorization must be signed by the owner of the test report (company name listed in the test report)
It needs internal photos (with and without shield) of the RF module
There will be no link to the RF module’s certificate, so it has no impact on the renewal even if the module’s certificate is expired.