CTA Hails Draft FCC NPRM to 'Modernize' Equipment Certification Rules

The FCC released an NPRM on equipment certification rules Thursday as one of several, draft items Chairman Ajit Pai is proposing for commissioners' Dec. 10 meeting. The NPRM proposes to “modernize” marketing rules to permit conditional sales of RF devices to consumers before equipment authorization, “provided those devices are not delivered to consumers until equipment authorization has been obtained.” The draft proposes to allow importing a “limited number” of RF devices for “pre-sale activities prior to the devices obtaining a certification.” Pre-sale activities "would include packaging and shipping devices to retail locations, as well as loading devices with specific software to demonstrate specific features and capabilities of the devices” says the draft. The FCC would seek comment on conditions to ensure that RF devices “comply with this new importation provision prior to obtaining equipment authorization.” CTA asked for the NPRM in June and welcomed the inquiry, which had broad support. "The FCC’s current equipment authorization rules handicap the U.S. in the global race to 5G,” said Jamie Susskind, CTA vice president-policy and regulatory affairs. Releasing the draft NPRM was "an important step toward bringing policies more closely in line with today’s marketplace,” she said: “The FCC now has the opportunity to advance U.S. leadership in wireless.”