PTCRB: the PPMD moves to V4 and drops GSM

Author Hugues Orgitello Last updated 19 August 2026 ~5 min read

News · Regulatory evolution

The Program Management Document, the PPMD, sets out the PTCRB certification process and IMEI control. It went from version 3.14 to version 4.0 in October 2025, then to version 4.1 in December 2025. This was not a tidying-up exercise: V4.0 removed the GSM requirements and moved IoT Device certification out of the document, and V4.1 followed by stripping GERAN and UTRA RSE references. The technical perimeter of the programme has shifted.

In short:

The PPMD in force is V4.1, December 2025. The companion technical requirements document is NAPRD03 V6.25.
V4.0, October 2025 removed the GSM requirements and moved the IoT Device certification requirements into the How to Get IoT Network Certified guide.
V4.1 removed GERAN and UTRA RSE from four sections.
The document now states its purpose as the framework for certifying UTRA, E-UTRA, NTN and NR devices.
A software version change does not always trigger recertification: it depends on how the product's software is structured.

What the two releases changed

The PPMD revision history is explicit. Two consecutive releases, two months apart, took technologies out of the document.

Date	Version	What was removed or moved
October 2025	4.0	Removed the Integrated Device term; moved IoT Device certification requirements to the How to Get IoT Network Certified guide; removed the GSM requirements
December 2025	4.1	Removed GERAN and UTRA RSE from sections 11.3.1.7, 11.4.3.10, 11.11.10.2 and 11.11.10.4

For a manufacturer the practical consequence runs two ways. GSM is no longer a technology the programme assesses, so a 2G product no longer finds its requirements in the PPMD. And if the product is an IoT Device, the PPMD is no longer the right document at all: the requirements sit in a separate guide attached to the IoT Network Certified programme.

The perimeter the document now claims

Section 1.1 of PPMD V4.1 states that the document provides the framework within which PTCRB certification of UTRA, E-UTRA, NTN and NR devices can take place. Eligible devices include smartphones, feature phones, tablets, notebook computers, modules, IoT chipsets, and devices incorporating certified chipsets.

Two things in that sentence are worth pausing on.

The first is the absence of GERAN, which is to say GSM. The second is the explicit presence of NTN, non-terrestrial access. The document's own glossary defines LTE-M NTN and NB-IoT NTN as LTE-M and NB-IoT technology supporting NTN access capabilities, as specified in 3GPP TS 36.306. Satellite connectivity is no longer a forward-looking topic in this programme: it is named in the process document.

Worth noting too, RedCap entered the PPMD earlier than is often reported: version 3.13, in December 2024, added its definition to Section 1.2 by reference to 3GPP TS 38.306 section 4.2.21.

The part that shapes design: the ECO

An Engineering Change Order is a request to recertify an already-certified device after a change. Section 11.6.1 lists the triggers:

any change to the device's hardware or hardware version;
any change to the radio or protocol stack that changes the software version or SVN;
any recompilation of the radio or protocol stack.

The worked examples the document gives are the most useful part for a development team, because they make the cost of compliance depend on a software architecture decision.

Situation	ECO required?
Operating system and radio stack merged into a single software image with one user-visible version number	Yes
Separate software modules with individual version numbers, radio stack neither changed nor recompiled	No
The component holding the radio stack changed only by security patches	No unique SVN required
MMI version updated with changes that do not affect radio or protocol function	No unique SVN required

The reading is blunt: a product with monolithic firmware triggers recertification on every update, including updates where the radio side did not move at all. Splitting the radio stack into an independently versioned software module avoids that cycle. It is an architecture decision taken at the start of a project and paid for across the product's whole life.

On the laboratory side, Section 11.6.4 leaves the choice between full and partial testing to the PTCRB Primary Test Laboratory, on criteria that must be "objective and defensible". Where the antenna changes, the laboratory also decides whether radiated testing is required and whether spot-checks will do.

For IoT Device ECOs the document provides a route with no laboratory review, where only the device's software version has changed and the changes do not affect the applicable test requirements. But review becomes mandatory again as soon as the antenna has changed in any way. Where radiated performance testing is required, a 2 dB rule applies: the ECO's TRP must be no more than 2 dB below the parent device's, and its TIS or C-TIS no more than 2 dB above the parent's.

The certified chipset, and what it actually buys

The PPMD defines the Certified Chipset and allows its test results to be reused, but within a narrow perimeter that is worth reading before building a certification plan on it. Results can be leveraged when the certified chipset is integrated into an LTE-M or NB-IoT module, or forms part of an IoT Device supporting NB-IoT or LTE-M. The document states they cannot be leveraged for any other device type, and names smartphones, feature phones, notebooks, tablets and any IoT Device of LTE Cat-1 or higher.

The effect shows up in the fee schedule at Section 11.3.1.11: an initial certification request is invoiced at $12,500, but $7,500 for a module or end product using a certified chipset, and $1,500 for an embedded modem, notebook or tablet incorporating an already-certified module. A variant certification is $3,125.

What to do

Check which document governs: the PPMD for the device types it covers, the How to Get IoT Network Certified guide if the product is an IoT Device.
Lift the radio stack out of the application firmware, with its own version number, so an application update does not trigger an ECO.
Treat any antenna change as a certification event, since it always reopens laboratory review and brings the 2 dB rule into play.
Weigh the chipset choice against the real reuse perimeter, which stops at LTE-M and NB-IoT.