The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to vote on a measure that would ban sales of devices containing components from companies on its sanctions blacklist.
The vote would extend existing prohibitions that have been tightening since the passage of the Bipartisan Secure Equipment Act of 2021. That law prohibited the FCC from issuing new equipment authorizations to companies on its so-called Covered List, a roster of firms the agency considers risks to national security.
Who’s on the list and why it matters
The Covered List includes Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua. These five companies manufacture everything from networking gear and two-way radios to the security cameras watching over countless businesses and government facilities.
The FCC first banned new equipment authorizations for these firms back in November 2022. But that initial prohibition left a loophole. Devices that had already been authorized could still be imported and sold. The upcoming vote aims to close that gap.
