FCC Part 68

The 1996 U.S. Telecommunications Act requires the Federal Communications Commissions (FCC) to review its rules every two years and repeal or modify any rules no longer in the public interest. This review in 1996 follows a worldwide telecom deregulatory trend designed to help trade. The FCC Part 68 approval process has been streamlined for FCC Part 68 approval of telecom terminal equipment. The FCC has distanced itself from any direct involvement in the FCC Part 68 terminal equipment approval process. Now the responsibility for FCC Part 68 approval has been delegated to industry and particularly to the Administrative Council for Terminal Attachment (ACTA). The following is an outline for the FCC Part 68 approval process.

The first step for FCC Part 68 approval is to ensure that the equipment has been designed to conform with the USA technical criteria in TIA/EIA-968-A and 47 CFR Part 68. These two standards outline the technical specifications for FCC Part 68 approval. There is a misconception that all of the technical requirements are located in the TIA-EIA-968-A standard. The FCC did retain some technical requirements in FCC Part 68, which includes, but is not limited to, the Hearing Aid Compatibility (HAC) and volume control (VC) requirements.

The second step is for a representative sample of the final product to be tested to the two standards to ensure FCC Part 68 compliance. To assist in the testing phase, the TIA/EIA/TSB-31-C document is a helpful guide. The manufacturer itself can perform this FCC Part 68 testing, or a recognized testing laboratory like CCL can perform the testing. For FCC Part 68 approval, the testing laboratory does not need to be accredited by any government or private agency. It is very common for the laboratory to have an accreditation by NVLAP or A2LA for FCC Part 68 testing. CCL does maintain FCC Part 68 accreditation by NVLAP.

After the successful FCC Part 68 testing, a formal test report is prepared. This test report should detail the testing results and summarize the findings in the FCC Part 68 compliance testing. The manufacturer or responsible party should keep the FCC Part 68 report on file to defend the FCC part 68 compliance of the equipment.

Once the FCC Part 68 test report is prepared, the manufacturer has two options. The manufacturer may prepare a Suppliers Declaration of Conformity (SDoC), or a Telecommunication Certification Body (TCB) laboratory may review the FCC Part 68 test report. The review by a TCB laboratory will issue a FCC Part 68 TCB Grant. Either the SDoC or the FCC Part 68 TCB Grant must be issued as part of the total FCC Part 68 approval process.

Once the FCC Part 68 SDoC or the FCC Part 68 TCB Grant is prepared, ACTA must be notified. This notification is so the FCC Part 68 approved equipment will be filed in the public database of FCC Part 68 approved equipment.

The equipment is then labeled with the FCC Part 68 certification number. This FCC Part 68 number on the product ensures that the user is connecting an FCC Part 68 compliance product.

When all these steps are completed, the equipment is FCC Part 68 compliant to connect to the public switch telephone network.