In a letter to Secretary of Commerce Howard W. Lutnick, AAFA president and chief executive officer Steve Lamar wrote that these industries depend on RFID technology in the lower 900 MHz band for inventory tracking, logistics coordination, theft prevention, checkout and emerging retail technologies.
US trade body AAFA is concerned over proposals to reconfigure the 902-928 MHz (lower 900 MHz) band as that would create significant operational disruption and costs for apparel, footwear and travel goods companies.
These industries depend on RFID technology in the lower 900 MHz band for inventory tracking, logistics coordination, theft prevention, checkout and emerging retail technologies.
Resulting interference could degrade performance, disrupt supply chain systems and require costly equipment upgrades or replacements. These disruptions would delay products reaching markets and reduce revenue, the letter noted.
The band’s availability under Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Part 15 has enabled innovation across industries, and reconfiguration would undermine this, Lamar said.
AAFA joined a broad coalition of industry stakeholders1 in response to NextNav’s petition to the FCC to reconfigure the lower 900 MHz, underscoring shared concerns that changes to this band would disrupt critical operations, increase costs and harm supply chains across multiple sectors.
For apparel, footwear, and travel goods companies already operating on tight margins, these added costs would directly affect their ability to offer affordable products, the letter said.
To maintain US leadership in innovation and ensure competitive, resilient supply chains, AAFA urged consideration of these impacts and recommended pursuing positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) objectives in alternative spectrum bands.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
