The Federal Communications Commission has supplemented its Part 5 Experimental Radio Service (ERS) with new rules designed to support new development within the industry and assist with implementing recommendations made in the National Broadband Plan.
The addition of new licenses will provide developers with more flexibility for research, allowing them to modify preexisting experiments and conduct a greater range of experiments under a single license.
The three new licenses include a program experimental license, which will allow colleges, laboratories and manufacturers to conduct ongoing RF-related testing and research experiments; a medical testing license, which will allow health care facilities to evaluate new RF-based medical devices for patient and electromagnetic compatibility; and a compliance testing license, which provides “FCC-recognized laboratories [with] the flexibility to undertake RF product compliance testing under the commission’s equipment authorization procedures.”
