FCC Gear Rule Changes Headed to 4-0 Vote -- With Tweaks

Draft rules revising equipment certification regulations to allow for presale of new RF devices before they're authorized are expected to be approved 4-0 by commissioners Thursday. A few tweaks are expected, reflecting changes sought by CTA and possibly Garmin, FCC officials said.

Commissioners approved an NPRM sought by CTA 5-0 in December (see 2012100069), which got broad support this year (see 2102120049). Only CTA and Garmin reported on recent lobbying. Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel proposed the FCC allow conditional sales of up to 12,000 of each device prior to authorization, triple the number in the NPRM. An FCC spokesperson declined comment Tuesday.

CTA wants to expand opportunities for “marketing and importation of 5G and other next-gen devices,” emailed Jamie Susskind, vice president-policy and regulatory affairs. “Our members strongly support the Acting Chairwoman’s proposal, which has also received broad buy-in from stakeholders, including private industry, members of Congress and civil society groups,” she said: “CTA previously requested clarification from the FCC on a few issues, but nothing that is ‘make or break.'”

“The extremely expedited process must mean that there’s interest in slightly altering the commission’s outdated marketing and importation rules to reflect current market practices,” said former Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, the first to press for the rule change. “These modifications are fairly uncontroversial and are a much-needed update to match today’s business practices in the IoT market,” said Joel Thayer, lawyer for the Lincoln Network. He expects bipartisan approval.

The Telecommunications Industry Association has backed revisions since proposed by CTA, said Colin Andrews, TIA senior director-government affairs. “That’s a common sense and positive regulatory update of the commission’s rules that more accurately affects” how IoT devices are developed and sold, he said.

Incompas supports the draft, said General Counsel Angie Kronenberg. “It will enhance innovation and investment in 5G and other connected devices.” Officials with Public Knowledge and New America told us they support the change, which they don’t expect to be controversial.

Garmin was the most active commenter, with five filings in docket 20-382 on conversations with staff for the commissioners and the Office of Engineering and Technology. Speaking with an aide to Rosenworcel, Garmin said the FCC shouldn’t require labels on each device noting preauthorization status. “Removal of temporary labels from as many as 12,000 individual packages will be a significant challenge for busy warehouse workers of unaffiliated retailers and will likely result in damaged items,” said a filing posted Monday: “Such damaged items will need to be re-shipped (at the manufacturer’s expense) to a central location either for re-packaging or returned to the original point of manufacture for new packaging and assembly.”

CTA had a single filing last week (see 2106080051), recommending a few small changes to OET. The group didn’t report on any meetings. “Will any further guidance be issued to provide more details on the necessary criteria for receiving a waiver of the 12,000 unit importation limit for pre-sale activities?” the group asked.