UPDATE Members of Congress praised the FCC’s decision to ban telecom equipment deemed to pose a national security threat from being imported into and sold within the U.S. Inside Towers reported the new rules apply to future generations of equipment identified on the FCC’s Covered List.
Senators Ed Markey (D-MA) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Steve Scalise (R-LA) applauded the action. In 2020, the FCC adopted new rules to require that U.S. telecommunications carriers rip and replace equipment provided by “covered” companies. That rulemaking only applied to equipment purchased with federal funding. The same equipment could still be used if purchased with private money.
The four lawmakers introduced the Secure Equipment Act to close the loophole. Congress passed the legislation in 2021 and President Biden signed it into law. The FCC’s new rule completes the rulemaking as required under the Act.
The Covered List includes telecom and video surveillance equipment from Huawei and ZTE. It also includes telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua used for public safety, the security of government facilities, physical surveillance of critical infrastructure, and other national security purposes.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel explained the new rules cover base station equipment for telecom networks. They cover consumer phones, cameras, and WiFi routers. They include re-branded or “white label” equipment that’s developed for the marketplace.
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr notes the Order says the agency now has the authority to revoke existing equipment authorizations. It did not take that step, however he’s “gratified that the agency has now put revocations squarely on the table,” and says, “I hope we soon exercise that authority.”
Carr encouraged his colleagues to approve expanding the types of equipment that should be banned from Covered List companies Hikvision, Dahua, and Hytera. He calls the companies “entities with deep ties to Communist China’s surveillance operation.”
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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