GCF Certification

The Global Certification Forum (GCF) is a certification organization in which manufacturers, operators and test laboratories deal with compliance with standards and specifications for devices in the mobile network.

The GCF was founded in 1999 and has quickly established itself as an organisation for the regulation of products in the European mobile network. This makes the GCF a counterpart to the North American PTCRB, which is responsible for the use in the American mobile network.

A GCF certification is therefore necessary for manufacturers who want to use their products in the European mobile network. These products include both terminals and modules.

The GCF certification process

The GCF defines a 6-steps certification plan for the approval of a device or module:

The roles of ACE and RTO

Within the framework of the GCF certification process, there are two bodies with special roles:

• Assessment Capable Entity (ACE)
• Recognized Test Organization (RTO)

Within the process, an ACE has the task of defining the scope of testing required to certify a product and evaluating all test results to ensure that the product meets all relevant certification criteria.

An RTO, on the other hand, is responsible for implementing the specified test plan. The tests can cover four categories:

• Conformity testing
• Field trials
• Interoperability testing
• 3GPP2 Wired IoT Tests

RTOs must be designated by the GCF on the basis of strict criteria relating to expertise, qualifications and technical equipment and must regularly confirm these criteria.