Since 1999, NATA have maintained a list of labs (known as Recognised Testing Authorities) that hold accreditation for testing to telecommunications standards mentioned within schedule 1 of the ACMA’s Telecommunications Labelling Notice.  These standards cover products ranging from phones and fax machines to 3G, 4G/LTE.  Austest Labs has been on this list from inception till now.  As of 12 December 2018, NATA no longer maintain a listing of RTAs.

What change does this mean for Australian suppliers of telecommunications equipment from a product certification or compliance perspective ?  Nothing at all.   Suppliers must still obtain reports for products falling under compliance levels specified by the ACMA’s Telecommunications Labelling Notice and Austest Labs holds accreditation for virtually all of these standards in our Sydney and Melbourne locations.

The loss of the RTA list means manufacturers and suppliers of telecommunications equipment won’t be able to search a single listing of global labs for the standards they need.  Our telecommunications standards listing can be found on page 5 here.

A copy of the NATA notice to RTAs can be found here.