August 08, 2006
China Wants Their Own RFID Standard - Good or Bad?
While many countries have accepted EPCGlobal's RFID standard, China wants to have their own standard. While China will still use the ISO standard frequencies of 13.56 Mhz (Megahertz) for NFC (Near-Field Communication), as well as the 860-960 Mhz band, the want to use their own numbering system. Their NPC (National Product Code) would compete with EPCGlobal's EPC (Electronic Product Code). [EE Times Asia via Storefront Backtalk]
China feels that their approach is cheaper than EPCGlobal's. With the substantial commitment to RFID that Chinese industries have undertaken, even a small percentage savings will make a difference.
Currently, there is no single worldwide standard for RFID technology, although EPCGlobal's draft document is arguably the closest thing to it. Yet despite the supposed cost savings, I think China's approach is a mistake. (Aside from their RFID Technology and Policy whitebook.) The EE Times Asia source article says:
More than a quarter of world trade passes through Asia, with China as the hub, making it key target for RFID.
If this is true, China should cooperate with existing efforts and find ways to cut costs elsewhere. Otherwise implementing a new standard is just going to generate costs elsewhere down the line in other countries, and probably find it's way back around to China. A financial karma of sorts?
Just speculating, but with an expected near three billion tags being consumed in China by 2009, especially for smart card use, implementing a new RFID standard seems like yet another way to wall themselves off.
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