- The Federal Communications Commission adopted new rules prohibiting communications equipment deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security from being authorized for importation or sale in the United States.
- In recent years, the Biden Administration has taken multiple actions to build a more secure and resilient supply chain for communications equipment and services.
- The Commission also adopted a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeking further comment on additional revisions that should be made to the rules and procedures prohibiting the authorization of “covered” equipment.
The United States Federal Communications Commission announced the sale of telecommunications and video surveillance equipment from Chinese brands, including Huawei, ZTE, China Telecom, China Unicom, and others has been banned, citing an unacceptable risk to national security. FCC announced that it had voted unanimously to adopt new rules to block the importation or sale of these products.
Unacceptable risk to national security
In the summer of 2021, the FCC stated that it was considering banning such products. Before that announcement, the organization added five Chinese companies, Huawei, ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp Hikvision, and Dahua, to a list due to posing a threat to national security to protect U.S. communications networks.
The Report and Order applies to future authorizations of equipment identified on the Covered List published by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau pursuant to the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. The new rules prohibit the authorization of equipment through the FCC’s Certification process and make clear that such equipment cannot be authorized under the Supplier’s Declaration of Conformity process or be imported or marketed under rules that allow exemption from an equipment authorization.
The FCC also announced the launch of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program which focuses on removing insecure equipment that currently exists in the U.S. telecommunication networks. Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairwoman of Federal Communications Commission said,
« The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here. These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications. »