FCC Expected to Approve 'Bad Labs' Order 4-0, With Tweaks Possible
A few tweaks are likely for the “bad labs” order and Further NPRM set for a vote at Thursday's FCC meeting, industry officials active in the proceeding told us. The item is expected to receive unanimous approval. It would prohibit FCC recognition of a telecommunications certification body, lab or lab accreditation body owned by a company on the agency’s covered list and other government rosters of unsecure companies (see 2505010037).
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There was relatively little outreach to the FCC on the bad labs item since Chairman Brendan Carr circulated it for a vote. In one filing of note, Consumer Technology Association and Incompas representatives jointly met with staff for the four commissioners and other FCC personnel, according to a filing posted this week in docket 24-136. The two groups “signaled their respective organization’s support for the national security goals of the Draft Report and Order and FNPRM,” it said.
But they also expressed concern “that the proposed rules could have a material impact on the pace of the certification process if a significant number of testing facilities were to have their recognition revoked by the Commission once the Report and Order goes into effect."
According to the groups' members, “considerable testing and certification is conducted in non-domestic facilities and U.S. companies will need ample time to identify alternative testing facilities and arrange for products to undergo certification,” the filing said: “In some cases, this may entail breaking a commercial agreement with a testing facility that has had its recognition revoked by the Commission. An immediate prohibition on the use of a testing facility could also leave a company’s current product testing stranded until an alternative is arranged.”
The Telecommunications Industry Association also reported on meetings with aides to FCC Commissioners Anna Gomez and Geoffrey Starks. “TIA raised potential steps the Commission could take to ensure that trusted vendors and allied governments are aware of FCC actions regarding certification facilities that pose a national security threat to ensure a harmonized, global approach to [information and communications technology] testing and certification,” the group said.
Industry officials said it's unclear how much the item will change.
“Carr’s office seems to believe that manufacturers can handle the pain the item would cause once the commission starts to de-recognize test facilities,” said an industry official involved in the proceeding. The other offices appear more open to considering a transition and implementation period, “given that there's just no discussion in the item or data available on how many test facilities could be impacted by these new requirements and whether existing facilities would have the capacity to meet the demand,” the official added.
CTA and TIA were among the groups that raised concerns about a similar NPRM circulated under former Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel (see 2409050017). Carr worked with Rosenworcel on developing that NPRM (see 2405230033), approved by commissioners 5-0 a year ago.