CTIA Submits Comments re FCC Secure Equipment Authorization 3rd FNPRM

CTIA filed the attached comments with the FCC in response to its Secure Equipment Authorization Third FNPRM. In the comments, we urge the Commission to pursue its security goals in this proceeding through targeted, transparent, and workable rules. Specifically, when considering additional rules, the Commission should follow guiding principles that pursue both affirmative market leadership and targeted national-security protections. We note that the statutory basis for its broad application of the Covered List restrictions to categories of "foreign-produced" equipment is questionable. If the Commission continues such an approach, we offer the following suggestions: Articulate a national security nexus between the equipment in question and the country of production, as the catch-all "foreign-produced" category curiously places even the United States' closest mutual defense treaty allies on the same level as its most threatening adversaries; Establish a system for "conditional approval" that includes clear criteria and transparent processes and is grounded in national security principles; Distinguish between the nascent catch-all "foreign producer"-based Covered List approach and the listings of particular equipment and services from particular entities posing particular risks that had characterized the Covered List from its inception in the first Trump Administration. Those categories present different security questions, different implementation challenges, and different market effects; and Codify recent permissive change waivers to allow secure software, firmware, and limited hardware updates during a transition period. This would also enable industry to transition between the time that a category or producer is added to the Covered List and the development of U.S. producers of covered equipment.