If you thought that getting the DGT V-16 beacon right couldn’t be more complicated, the beacons with an expiration date have arrived.

Buying an approved and fully valid connected V-16 beacon is relatively simple. Or, at least, it should be. Because to the list of products and companies that market a completely valid product are added the beacons that can continue to be sold… but that will no longer be able to be sold.

Yes, the DGT has opened a new list… and now everything is more confusing.

The approved V-16 beacons. So that a V-16 beacon is valid by the DGT and is completely approved, the product must meet a series of requirements. Among the most important are the following:

• Connectivity with DGT 3.0 for at least 12 years
• Radiate light 360 degrees
• Maintain irradiation intensity for at least 30 minutes
• Protection degree IP54 at least
• Guaranteed operation between -10ºC and 50ºC

How do I check it? It must be taken into account that non-approved beacons are being sold on the market despite being completely legal… more or less. And when the arrival of the beacons was approved in 2021, we didn’t know anything about the DGT 3.0 platform. In 2023 it was confirmed that its connectivity with the platform would be mandatory but, by then, beacons without connectivity had already been sold. Right now, they are still on the market selling.

These beacons are not valid. We can use them but the DGT will force us to have one approved. From FACUA they point out that there are beacons that are being sold with the DGT badge but that are not approved because they do not have connectivity. Despite everything, they are still on the market.

In this situation, the only thing we can do is check if the purchased product is in this list offered by the DGT. It includes each and every one of the products that can be purchased that meets the minimum requirements.

Brands and models with certificates with expired validity. Everything seemed, therefore, hands or less clear when it came to purchasing a connected V-16 beacon of those that will be mandatory from January 1, 2026. Until the DGT has added a new list with the name indicated at the beginning of this paragraph: Brands and models with certificates with expired validity.

In the description of the DGT to explain what these models are, why they are on this list and what it means, Traffic points out the following:

This table shows the brands and models with expired certificates that covered their manufacture and are valid for use by drivers who have purchased them until the end of their useful life.

At the time of writing these lines there are three products from the Ledel Solutions CO brand. LTD and another from Ditraimon SL All of them have an end of validity date of 2025.

What does this mean? To try to clarify the matter, we have contacted the DGT who have told us the following:

“They are beacons that met the requirements in the first approval, but when they went to renew the certificate and had to pass the tests again, they did not meet the required quality criteria”

That is, we are talking about companies that have put a valid product on the market. That product, over time, has to pass quality tests again to certify that it continues to meet the minimum required criteria. It was in this second test that they failed and, therefore, lost the certificate that allows them to sell connected V-16 beacons unless they again present a pilot product that guarantees its validity.

What if I have one of these beacons? The DGT has confirmed to us that there is no problem. From Traffic they point out that if we have bought or, right now, we buy any of these connected V-16 beacons that are on the market There is no problem because the production runs that have been made until the certificates were withdrawn are completely valid.

In theory, we have a guaranteed 12 years of connected V-16 beacon from the moment of purchase, as required by the technical requirements to approve this product.

More confusion and more questions. Of course, what is certain is that this new DGT list adds even more confusion to the consumer. And based on the description and the responses from Traffic, it is understandable that a customer may doubt whether their connected V-16 beacon is now valid or not. According to the DGT, we repeat, yes it is.

Other questions also arise. If the companies and products that appear in this list as of December 26, 2025 were lost between the months of April and September, why has it not been published until now that they have lost the certificate?

In theory and with the answers that Traffic has given us, the companies Ledel Solutions and Ditraimon have not been able to put on the market a new productive run of connected V-16 beacons once the date on which the certificate renewal has been denied has passed, but there is no problem in purchasing one of these products after this date if they were already on the market. Theoretically, they are guaranteed to operate for the required minimum 12 years.

Photo | Netun Solutions and DGT

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