UHF RFID favoured in Government spectrum re-allocation

UHF RFID implementations in New Zealand will likely become easier and more cost effective as a consequence of the Government’s recent reallocation of radio spectrum. The increased spectrum for RFID aligns closer with the United States and Australia and opens up opportunities for a wider range of RFID readers and tags and the economies of scale this promises.

The air waves can get very crowded – and that’s a bad thing for all sorts of reasons, not least the limitations it can impose on radio frequency identification (RFID) and implementation concerns.

For New Zealand to really go ahead with RFID, we need radio spectrum clearly allocated for this purpose – and it needs to be enough of the ‘right’ spectrum. If this is the case, we can limit the risks of interference between RFID and other uses of the air waves, and we can reduce the cost of importing and operating RFID devices. The good news is that the Government has understood the issues and decided on an efficient re-allocation of radio transmission types within the 806-960 mega hertz (MHz) spectrum with a particular emphasis on what it calls “new and emerging commercial technologies”.

UHF RFID is chief among these technologies, along with smart electricity metering systems. For the purposes of spectrum allocation, they are described as “higher power and short range”, and they have now been allocated an additional band of 921.5 – 928 MHz (well within the UHF, or ultra high frequency, area of spectrum). It represents a tidy separation from other uses, most notably the studio-to-transmitter links of radio broadcasters. The latter will now have their own spectrum (928 - 929 MHz). Radio stations will use this for sending their programmes from studio to broadcast transmission site, so avoiding the interference that has been starting to occur from RFID and other higher power, short range technologies.

Communications and Information Technology Minister Steven Joyce announced the new allocations last month (June 2010) after long review by officials in consultation with the various industry stakeholders concerned including GS1 New Zealand and the NZ RFID Pathfinder Group. As Mr Joyce noted, UHF RFID and other radio technologies drive productivity gains throughout our economy, and allocating more spectrum makes take-up of these technologies cheaper. Indeed, he seems to have fully taken on board the needs of New Zealand’s growing UHF RFID community.

The announcement included a decision to allow users in the 921.5-928 MHz band to operate their short-range devices (which most RFID implementations are) at higher levels of power meaning longer read ranges. The restriction was 1 watt but that now moves up to 4 watt, consistent with the needs of some current users. Allowing UHF RFID at higher power will give a boost to take-up of the technology, as will the size and particular range of spectrum that has now been allocated.

Such allocation is yet another area where international standardisation is critical to New Zealand. If we harmonise and align for UHF RFID here with the United States, and/or Europe where the technology is developed and mass produced, we benefit  from all the economies of scale associated with the size and sophistication of those economies. And we will!  The Government’s decision is for harmonisation with US spectrum allocation, and that means most UHF RFID devices produced there (and most notably chips and readers) can be operated legally in New Zealand.  They can be imported and operated under general licence terms, with no issues specific to this country.  Device prices will be lower than otherwise and compliance costs minimised – the best possible scenario for any business or public agency looking to introduce RFID for supply
chain management or other applications.

Spectrum allocation is definitely backroom activity – hardly top-of-mind when a particular organisation is scoping out its uses for UHF RFID, and developing a business case to invest and benefit. But it is actually critical to the economics of deploying this technology over the long term. Spectrum allocation is exactly the sort of area where the Government, and its officials, need to work closely with industry and to heed the importance of international standardisation.  We seem to have got it right!

Gary Hartley
GS1 NZ