The FCC to adopt a Notice of Proposal Rule Making (NPRM)-(ET Docket No. 24-136) that proposes new rules to ensure TCBs (Telecommunication Certification Bodies) and Test Labs are trustworthy.
As of 2022, FCC adopted rules that barred entities in the covered list from having their devices approved.
The covered list, maintained by Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, is compiled in accordance with FCC rules 47 C.F.R § 1.50000 et seq. and the reasons for adding communication equipment in the covered list are enumerated in C.F.R § 150002 et seq.
Proposed Changes
In 2024, FCC has passed proposal to ensure TCBs and Test labs are not only impartial and competent but are also trustworthy (i.e. they have no ties with adversary governments like CCP-China Communist Party, or any other entities determined by the U.S. government to pose an unacceptable security risk). The proposal will ensure:
- Any TCB or Test lab of which an entity in the FCC’s covered list has direct or indirect ownership or control of 10% or more will be suspended from participating in FCC’s equipment authorization process.
- Propose, as part of the Commission’s effort to strengthen oversight of the equipment authorization program, to adopt new information collections to require that TCBs and test labs report any entity that holds a 5% or greater direct or indirect equity and/or voting interest in them.
- Will clarify the extent to which the FCC would impose the eligibility restrictions for TCBs and test labs based on lists developed by Executive Branch agencies that reflect expert determinations about entities that pose national security risks.
Some of the entities in the covered list are:
- Huawei Technologies Company
- ZTE Corporation
- More
See details on wireless equipment authorization in the United States.