US clarifies mobile hotspots part of foreign router ban despite rarity of American made consumer kit

Silicon often from US, but the kit from APAC and elsewhere
America's telco regulator has clarified its ban on foreign-made routers also includes mobile hotspots and domestic routers that use a 5G cellular connection to the internet.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced – about a month ago – an effective ban on new consumer-grade network routers manufactured abroad from being sold in the US.

Now, perhaps realizing it had made an oversight, the agency has updated its FAQs about the issue to include "consumer-grade portable or mobile MiFi Wi-Fi or hotspot devices for residential use" and "LTE/5G CPE devices for residential use," where CPE refers to customer premises equipment (CPE).

However, mobile phones that support hotspot features are not included, nor are industrial, enterprise, or military equipment – for now, at least.

The purported reason for the ban is national security, as The Register noted in March.

The FCC updated its Covered List to include all foreign-made consumer routers.

This list details equipment and services covered by Section 2 of The Secure Networks Act, which, by their inclusion, are deemed to pose "an unacceptable risk" to US national security.

But the rule does not apply retroactively, meaning that it applies only to new models and does not prevent the import, sale, or use of any existing models that the agency had previously authorized.

The policy has drawn criticism because the vast majority of consumer router kit is manufactured abroad, or perhaps assembled in the US from foreign-made components.

The ban has also drawn criticism as a thinly veiled attempt to compel domestic manufacturing, since obtaining an exemption requires vendors to commit to US-based production and submit a detailed, time-bound plan to achieve it.

The Global Electronics Association (GEA) argued that the policy is flawed because security vulnerabilities are not limited to any particular geography, but appear across products regardless of the country in which they were made.

It also expressed concern this could herald a wider ban on foreign-made devices, such as smartphones.

The Covered List originally applied only to specific companies.

Extending it to an entire category of products means the US could theoretically ban any internet-connected devices made abroad simply by playing the security card.

Since the ban was announced, Conditional Approval has been granted to a few companies – Netgear, Adtran [PDF] and Amazon's eero brand [PDF].

In each case, this approval is granted only for about 18 months - terminating October 1, 2027.

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