The FCC voted this week to close loopholes in the agency’s Covered List (see earlier story in this newsletter.) The list shows telecom equipment manufacturers that officials say pose an unacceptable risk to national security. Many of these devices are closely tied to foreign adversaries, like China, and can allow the Chinese Communist Party to surveil Americans, disrupt communications networks, and otherwise threaten U.S. national security, agency officials say.
While the FCC’s Covered List rules already prohibit the importation, sale, and marketing of new, insecure Huawei, Hikvision, and other Covered List devices in the U.S., agency regulations have not applied those prohibitions to previously authorized devices. This loophole enables their continued importation, sale, and marketing. Additionally, those regulations have not applied to component parts that are included within otherwise authorized devices.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said during the vote, “The FCC has overseen the removal of insecure gear from our networks,” he said, referring to the Rip & Replace reimbursement program. “The FCC has banned Covered List entities from selling new models of their relevant gear. And we recently prohibited Bad Labs, including those located in China, from participating in our equipment authorization program.”
“But America’s foreign adversaries are constantly looking for ways to exploit any vulnerabilities in our system,” said Carr. That’s why the agency needs to do more.
These new rules will establish a process for the FCC to prohibit the continued importation, marketing, and sale of previously authorized devices that the agency subsequently placed on the Covered List based on national security concerns. The Commission could apply this new rule in a targeted manner. Additionally, the new rules will close the modular transmitter loophole—meaning that certain insecure Huawei, Hikvision, or other Covered List modular transmitters could no longer be included as components within otherwise lawful or authorized devices.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief