Rosenworcel Makes Gear Authorization Focus of June Meeting

The FCC will launch a proceeding aimed at increasing telecom security by making changes to its equipment authorization rules and competitive bidding procedures “to help keep insecure devices off the market,” acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Wednesday. Commissioners will also take up a proposal sought by CTA allowing the limited marketing and sales of wireless devices to consumers before equipment authorization. All the items are to be voted at the June 17 commissioners' meeting.

“The FCC must do all it can within its legal authority to address national security threats,” Rosenworcel said. The agency will ask questions on how to “create incentives for device manufacturers to adopt better cybersecurity processes,” she said. In March, Commissioner Brendan Carr urged closing a loophole that allows gear from Huawei and other Chinese companies be approved under FCC rules (see 2103300071).“I applaud … Rosenworcel for moving swiftly to address this loophole and for bringing forward a proposal for the Commission to vote,” Carr said Wednesday.

Rules allowing early equipment approvals would “help speed the way for trustworthy innovation that will help advance U.S. leadership,” Rosenworcel said. To help the review process “keep pace with the rate of innovation, we will vote on rules to expand opportunities to import, market, and conditionally sell radiofrequency equipment, including mobile devices, prior to the equipment completing the equipment authorization process,” she said. “The new rules would allow manufacturers to gauge consumer interest for new products and take advantage of new mechanisms for marketing devices, like crowd funding, while still ensuring that the important goals of the equipment authorization system and security are not undermined.”

The CTA proposal got broad support when the FCC took comment earlier this year (see 2102120049). “The old rules from the 1970s are putting Americans at a global disadvantage in how soon they can get the newest devices they want,” CTA President Gary Shapiro said in a statement: “The old rules that restrict importing and selling tech devices directly to consumers no longer make sense. The importance of and demand for 5G and other next-generation devices became even clearer during the pandemic.”

The FCC will also seek comment on a proposal that it authorize devices used to mark fishing equipment for use on the maritime navigation system, the automatic identification system, “to monitor and track ships and exchange safety-related information,” Rosenworcel said.

Also on the agenda is a proposal expanding the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s ability to send wireless emergency alerts “that disseminate important information during national emergencies, to improve emergency communications organization and planning at the state level, and to enable new reporting for false alerts,” Rosenworcel said.

Members will consider an item to crack down on robocalls. They will vote on a “streamlined process” that allows private entities to alert the Enforcement Bureau about suspected unlawful robocalls and spoofed calls. Also on the agenda is an order that provides guidance to certain Connected Care pilot program applicants on eligible services, competitive bidding, invoicing and data reporting

The agency will also address two petitions for reconsideration on last year's loosening of low-power FM technical rules. Action on the petitions “will provide clarity and finality to these rules, bringing us one step closer to opening an application window for new LPFM stations,” wrote Rosenworcel. A petition for reconsideration in docket 19-193 by radio engineers focused on the FCC rejection of proposals to allow for increased power for LPFM. NAB opposed it.