On February 21, 2024, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced that it will vote on the plan to create cybersecurity labels for wireless consumer Internet of Things (IoT) devices at a public meeting of the FCC on March 14, 2024. The proposed plan will include a new U.S. "Cyber Trust Mark" certification and is expected to have the following key requirements:

• Marks/labels are used only if they meet the baseline network security standards;
• The label will be accompanied by a QR code that consumers can scan to get detailed information about the product's safety, such as guaranteeing the minimum support period for the product, whether there are software patches, and that security updates are automatic;
• The voluntary certification program will rely on public-private partnerships, with a third-party label management agency supervised and approved by the FCC managing activities such as evaluating product applications, authorizing the use of labels, and guiding/educating consumers;
• Compliance testing will be carried out by accredited laboratories.

Click link to view the original FCC announcement regarding the cybersecurity label vote.

On January 8, 2024, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued certification rules for "Unlicensed Use of the 6 GHz Band; and Expanding Flexible Use in Mid-Band Spectrum Between 3.7 and 24 GHz". On February 6, 2024, the FCC issued additional amendments to the rule. The amendment to 15.407(d)(6) states that "all U-NII transmitters must use CBP except for standard power access points and fixed client devices operating in the 5.925-7.125 GHz band". The fixed client device was not previously included in the above description.

Click this link to view the FCC's Notice of Amendment.

On December 22, 2023, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) published a proposed rule numbered FCC 23-114, which was published on the Federal Register website on January 29, 2024. The proposal proposes to modify the unwanted emission limits for the 24 GHz band to better protect passive sensors in the 23.6-24 GHz band for weather forecasting and scientific research, and to allow for more commercial flexibility in the use of the 24 GHz band (specifically the 24.25-24.45 GHz and 24.75-25.25 GHz bands). For end equipment operating at 24.25–24.45 GHz or 24.75–25.25 GHz, the proposed amendment to Part 30 would limit the total spurious emissions in any 200 MHz bandwidth in the 23.6-24 GHz band to no more than -29 dBW (1 dBm), which will be further tightened to -35 dBW (-5 dBm) after September 1, 2027.

Click this link to check the original proposed rule and the public consultation is open until Feb. 28 2024.

Following the announcement by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on October 19, 2023 that the 6 GHz band will be opened for use by very-low power (VLP) devices, on January 8, 2024, the FCC published a rule on the Federal Register website regarding "Unlicensed Applications of the 6 GHz Band and Expanding the Flexible Use of the 3.7 to 24 GHz Band" to promote the update of the requirements in FCC Part 15. The new rules will allow VLP devices to be used in the U–NII–5 (5925–6425 MHz) and U–NII–7 (6525–6875 MHz) frequency bands. The new regulations will come into effect on March 8, 2024. In addition. The FCC is also considering opening up the entire 6GHz band to VLP equipment.

Click this link to view the original text of the relevant regulatory update.

On September 29, 2023, the Federal Register officially released revisions to Title 47 to introduce a series of new standards:

• ANSI C63.4a–2017: Disturbance measurement method for low-voltage electrical and electronic equipment from 9kHz to 40GHz;
• ANSI C63.10–2020: License-exempt device test procedure. The mandatory date of this standard is October 30, 2025;
• ANSI C63.25.1–2018: 1 GHz to 18 GHz Field Validation Standard;

The above updates will take effect on October 30, 2023. Click this link to view the original Federal Register announcement.