Other Tech Groups Support CTA Push for Revised Gear Authorization Rules
CTA got support from CTIA and other tech industry groups on its June petition asking the FCC to allow presale of new RF devices before they're authorized (see 2006030044). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly urged the change before the petition was filed (see 2006020069). CTA said it hopes the next step will be an NPRM in the next few months. Initial comments were posted Friday in RM-11857.
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CTA first asked for the change five years ago in response to the equipment authorization NPRM, Jamie Susskind, vice president-regulatory affairs, told us now. “We’ve mentioned it before,” she said. “Now we feel, and our members feel, this is taking on new importance,” she said. “In light of COVID, we’re seeing the importance of devices. … We’re seeing folks with increased reliance on consumer devices to help them do work at home, to help them learn at home.”
The association has spoken with four of the commissioner offices and the Office of Engineering and Technology “to make sure they’re aware, that they understand what we’re looking for,” Susskind said. An NPRM will likely be needed because the issue wasn’t “specifically teed up” in the previous rulemaking, she said. Replies are due July 24.
“The FCC last looked at these rules decades ago, and consumers are now much more accustomed to buying things via presale,” said Dileep Srihari, vice president and policy counsel for CompTIA, which filed in support. “That includes both company-specific preorders after marketing events like Apple regularly does, and through preorders on retail platforms like Amazon,” he said: “More recently, people have become accustomed to paying for products on platforms like Kickstarter, or directly from companies like Tesla, even before those products have been completed.” CompTIA gets that the authorization process is important to protect against interference, he said. “CTA has proposed a good set of safeguards, including a requirement that manufacturers have a process in place to retrieve any equipment from retailers in case authorization is ultimately denied,” Srihari told us.
“The requested changes would not harm consumers or the marketplace,” said Colin Andrews, Telecommunications Industry Association director-government affairs. “Instead, they would allow manufacturers of emerging devices to better prepare their inventories for potential market launches while awaiting an official grant of authorization.” TIA believes the FCC should launch a rulemaking and “in the interim, issue a waiver to provide … manufacturers immediate relief,” he said.
“The current prohibition on conditional sales to consumers and the limited ability to import devices prior to authorization -- even for activities to ready such devices for retail display -- impede innovation and delay customer access to next-generation technologies,” CTIA said: “Modifying the Commission’s dated marketing and importation rules has the potential to significantly increase consumer access to wireless services.”
The proposed changes “would improve the ability of technology companies to innovate on behalf of consumers and compete in the global technology marketplace,” the Computer & Communications Industry Association said. The changes “not only will benefit consumers but also will increase the speed with which technology companies can bring 5G devices to market, as they will not have to wait for equipment authorization in order to complete certain tasks necessary for product readiness,” Samsung Electronics America said.