On May 15, 2026, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published its final rule and proposal under OET 24-136 "Ensuring the Integrity of the Equipment Authorization Program" which FCC passed on April 30, respectively, on the Federal Register website. Related links are as follows:

• Final rule, which will be effective June 15, 2026;
• Proposed rule. The comment period is until June 15, 2026, and the response period is until July 14, 2026.

The relevant content will have a significant impact on China's information and communication industry. All parties involved are advised to pay attention and actively submit feedback through the FCC electronic comment system. Click this link to view the comment entry (file number 24-136 will be automatically filled in the Proceeding section). Click this link to view the FCC eComment System's full history of proposals for "Ensuring the Integrity of the Equipment Authorization Program"

On April 30, 2026, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to pass the latest proposal under Docket 24-136 "Ensuring the Integrity of the Equipment Authorization Program". According to FCC Document 26-28, released on May 1, 2026, the impact of the Act on testing agencies will mainly be divided into two parts:

• Proposed regulations will require disclosure of the geographic location and number of foreign employees, and establish a green channel for pre-certification technical programs (PAG) of "trusted laboratories" in the U.S. and its partner countries. This section is expected to take effect one month after publication on the Federal Register website and has not yet been released;
• For public comment on the new regulations, the FCC plans to completely ban all testing laboratories and certification agencies from countries that have not signed MRA or other equivalent reciprocal trade agreements with the U.S., affecting countries including China, India, Thailand, and the Philippines. The relevant policies will set a transition period, and the FCC press release described a description of a two-year transition period, but the formal proposal states a period of one year or more, meaning this period is also one of the main topics for soliciting comments. During the transition period, if companies choose to conduct testing in non-MRA countries, they must pay a fee of $20,000 per model, which far exceeds the full FCC testing and certification costs for most products. The solicitation of opinions is expected to take more than half a year before entering the proposed regulation issuance stage.

It is expected that the proposed regulation and the new regulation will be published as two separate documents on the Federal Register website. The related content is expected to have a significant impact on China's information and communication industry. All parties involved are encouraged to pay attention and actively submit feedback through the FCC electronic comment system. Click this link to file a comment (file number 24-136 will be automatically filled in the Proceeding section). It is recommended to wait for the publishment of the propose on the Federal Register website before submitting comments.

Click this link to view the original FCC 26-28 proposal. Click this link to view the FCC e-Comment System's full history of proposals for "Ensuring the Integrity of the Equipment Authorization Program" .

On April 30, 2026, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted to approve a proposal titled "Protecting Against National Security Threats in Domestic Telecommunications Service" which was officially released on the FCC website as number FCC 26-29 on May 1, 2026. On May 8, 2026, the proposal was published on the Federal Register website, beginning a month-long public comment period, with the comment period ending on June 8, 2026.

The related content is expected to have a significant impact on the international business of Chinese telecom operators and the international internet experience of ordinary users. All parties are advised to pay attention and actively submit comments through the FCC electronic comment system. Click this link to view the comment entry (file number 26-82 will be automatically filled in the Proceeding section).

Click this link to view the original FCC 26-29 proposal. Click this link to view the original federal register announcement at this link. Click this link to view the FCC electronic comment system's full history of proposals on "Protecting Against National Security Threats in Domestic Telecommunications Service"

On December 22, 2025, the FCC added foreign-made drones to the "Covered List", and on March 23, 2026, the FCC included consumer-grade routers in the list, but the FCC can grant "conditional approval" for a certain period of time if the manufacturer applies and is approved by the U.S. Department of War. On April 14 and April 22, 2026, the FCC issued two "conditional approvals" for routers and drones, and the current approved manufacturers (approvals for specific models, see the original text) are: 

• UAVs: SiFly Aviation, Mobilicom, ScoutDI, Verge Aero and Sees.ai. The "conditional approval" of the drones notified in both batches is valid until December 31, 2026;
• Routers: Netgear, Adtran, eero LLC, the "conditional approval" of the two batches of notified routers is valid on October 1, 2027 and October 31, 2027 respectively

Click this link to view the FCC's updated "Covered List".

On April 9, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released its agenda for its April open meeting, in which the agenda called Device Testing proposed to completely cancel the authorization of non-MRA national laboratories, the main contents of which are as follows: 

• Implementation Phase Measures: The FCC clarifies a number of measures that can be implemented under the existing FCC regulatory framework, including: requiring authorized testing and certification bodies to report the number of employees and locations of business; improve the market supervision procedures after the equipment is launched; further strengthen the law enforcement mechanism; Establish confidential reporting channels to encourage industry participants to report potential breaches or alleged security threats.
• Proposed Executive Order: FCC will provide a Fast Track for Pre-Approval Guidance (PAG) of equipment tested by "trusted laboratories" in the United States or its MRA countries; The FCC will require relevant testing and certification bodies to clearly disclose the location and number of employees participating in FCC certification activities. The executive order will take effect one month after it is published on the Federal Register after it is passed by the FCC at the end of this month.
• Proposed to solicit public comment on the abolition of non-MRA national laboratories: The FCC proposed to completely ban all testing laboratories and certification bodies in countries that have not signed MRA or other equivalent reciprocal trade agreements with the United States. The FCC is also considering a transition period for this change, during which the FCC recommends charging manufacturers $20,000 for each certification test conducted at a non-MRA laboratory. The above proposals will go through the open meeting at the end of April, the publicity of the federal release website, the FCC drafting a draft executive order, and a re-vote and release, and even if there is little resistance, it is expected that it will still take six months or more to take effect.

Click this link to view the original FCC proposal.

On March 23, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its covered list to add foreign-made routers to the list. This restriction is mainly for consumer-grade routers that are intended for residential use and can be installed by consumers themselves. Foreign manufacturers will be banned from obtaining FCC equipment authorizations for new consumer-grade routers, meaning that related products cannot be legally imported and marketed in the United States. This restriction does not affect the continued import and sale of FCC-certified router products.

The FCC also has an exemption mechanism that allows manufacturers to apply for Conditional Approvals from the U.S. Department of War (DoW) or the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in accordance with FCC guidelines. If approved, the applicant will take an exemption period of up to 18 months to continue obtaining FCC certification. The application is submitted to the FCC's specific mailbox, and the FCC submits the materials to the DoW and DHS for review, and once approved, the FCC can proceed to approve the new model of equipment authorization. The main application materials to be submitted include:

• Enterprise structure: including complete shareholding structure, beneficial owners (beneficiaries holding 5% or more of the shares) and financial influence of foreign governments;
• Manufacturing and supply chain disclosure: detailed bill of materials (BOM), component country of origin and single point of failure risk assessment, etc.;
• U.S. Manufacturing & Reshoring Program: Commitment to a specific timeline, capital expenditure, and return on schedule for future expansion of production capacity within the U.S.

Click this link to view the original FCC press release, click here this link to view the updated covered list, click this link to view the exemption application guideline.

On February 25, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a final rule allowing geofenced variable power (GVP) devices to operate on U-NII-5 (5.925–6.425 GHz) and U-NII-7 (6.525–6.875 GHz) in the 5.925–7.125 GHz (6 GHz) band. The rule will come into effect on April 27, 2026.

Click this link to view the original final rule.

On February 20, 2026, the FCC posted the Further Proposed Rules (FNPRM) section of FCC 26-1 on the Federal Register website, which proposes to amend the rules in Part 15 regarding 6 GHz (5.925–7.125 GHz) license-exempt devices. The proposed revision focuses on broadening the existing requirement to prohibit the use of 6GHz low-power indoor equipment (LPI) on ships, which will allow the use of LPI equipment on cruise ships. It also allows automatic frequency control (AFC) devices to account for up to 6dB of building penetration loss. Since allowing the use on cruise ships will require the label to be updated, the requirement will affect the labeling of wireless access points and wireless router equipment if it becomes effective in the future.

Click this link to view the original FNPRM portion of the FCC Draft 26-1 published on the Federal Release website, which is open for comment until March 23, 2026.

On January 29, 2026, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) discussed and adopted the draft regulation No. 25-166 "Promoting Transparency in Foreign Adversary Control to Protect Communications Networks" at its January open meeting, and officially issued the report and order No. 26-2 on January 30. The new regulations propose to establish a "Foreign Adversary Control System" (FACS), requiring all FCC authorization holders to declare whether they are controlled by a counterparty country based on their risk level (Schedules A, B, C). The regulations establish a 10% presumption of control, and controlled entities must disclose interest holders holding 5% or more through a penetrating review. If a business fails to file on time or provides misrepresentation, the FCC will initiate a simplified process to revoke its business license.

Click this link to view the original FCC 26-2 report and order.

On January 26, 2026, the FCC issued a notice with file number 327224 on the Federal Release website, announcing that the regulations on achieving 100% hearing aid compatibility (HAC) for wireless phones have officially entered the full implementation stage. The document confirms that the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the information collection requirements in May 2025, thus establishing an effective date of January 26, 2026, for key provisions in § 20.19 on Bluetooth coupling, label disclosure, website disclosure, and annual reporting. In addition to confirming the effective date, the bulletin corrected typographical and numbering errors: for the original statute issued in November 2024, the typographical error in § 20.19 was corrected, and the second paragraph (f)(1)(ii) of the original duplicate number was officially redesignated as (f)(1)(iii).

Click this link to view the original bulletin numbered FR ID 327224.