FCC Seeking More Info on Chinese-Made IoT Modules Amid House China Leaders' Concerns

The FCC’s Public Safety Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology are forwarding concerns House China Committee leaders raised about the extent to which Chinese equipment manufacturers like Fibocom and Quectel are spying via U.S. IoT-connected devices via connectivity modules “to each of the authorities enumerated in” the 2019 Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act to probe the status of those companies, commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in letters to panel leaders released Tuesday. House China Chairman Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., and ranking member Raja Krishnamoorthi, D-Calif., asked Rosenworcel in August about Fibocom and Quectel, citing concerns about the threat to U.S. IoT devices (see 2308080059). “The issues you raise with respect to connectivity modules merit continued attention,” she wrote the House China leaders. The commission “is examining additional steps it should take to protect U.S. networks. In addition to our efforts to prevent equipment on the Covered List from being approved through our equipment authorization process, the agency sought comment on the extent to which certain ‘component parts’ associated with equipment authorized by the agency, if produced by entities identified on the Covered List, should be precluded from authorization because they might also pose an unacceptable risk to national security.” The FCC “also sought comment on whether the Commission should revoke authorizations of specific Covered List equipment that was issued prior to the date any prohibition on authorization went into effect, what the process would be for doing so, and how this would work in the marketplace,” she said: “At present, the agency is examining the record in this proceeding and considering what steps will further protect communications networks and equipment supply chains.” Fibocom and Quectel “are among those that have obtained authorizations of modules,” Rosenworcel said. “The agency does not have information about whether authorized equipment may have been or is currently used in U.S. networks, and, if so, where precisely it is deployed,” but “we coordinate closely and regularly with our federal partners and executive branch bodies that have the responsibility for making determinations regarding equipment and services that pose an unacceptable risk and have written to them to ensure that this matter receives appropriate review.”