FCC Tightens Equipment Rules

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted new restrictions on equipment incorporating certain components from Covered List entities, strengthened online marketplaces' compliance obligations, and tightened its rules for modifying previously authorized equipment. Published in the Federal Register on September 11, 2026, the rules take effect October 13, 2026.

There are four main components of the new rules: (1) prohibiting authorization of devices that contain "logic-bearing hardware components" produced by a covered entity; (2) requiring e-commerce platforms to display a device's FCC ID at the point of sale; (3) clarifying that a manufacturer cannot rely on an existing authorization to modify equipment in a way that makes it covered; and (4) amending the definition of "critical infrastructure" to remove an earlier interpretation that that equipment merely "connected to" critical infrastructure qualify.