In recent weeks the FCC’s Supply Chain restrictions have been the topic of a good deal of activity at the Commission. Please note the following:
- On October 10, 2025, Chairman Carr issued a news release announcing the initial success of “Operation Clear Carts”. Led by the FCC’s Council on National Security, the FCC launched Operation Clear Carts to rid e-commerce platforms of unauthorized covered equipment. Federal law prohibits the sale or marketing of certain electronic equipment, including certain devices produced by Chinese entities like Huawei, ZTE, Dahua, and Hikvision that the FCC has placed on the agency’s Covered List. Many on-line retailers, however, have continued to sell those devices, such as Huawei smart watches and Dahua home security cameras. The Chairman’s announcement reports that after working with numerous leading e-commerce sites to address the issue, those efforts have resulted in removing several million listings for Covered List devices. In addition, the Commission has received commitments from those e-commerce sites to adopt additional best practices and to coordinate with the FCC in the future to avoid the sale of Covered List devices. The Commission maintains an up-to-date version of the Covered List which can be found on the Commission’s website at http://www.fcc.gov/supplychain/coveredlist. In addition to the foregoing, at its October 28, 2025, Open Meeting, the Commission adopted a Second Report and Order and a Second Notice of Proposed Rulemaking which would amend existing rules and seek comment on additional rule changes to further address national security concerns.
- On October 14, 2025, the FCC released a National Security Advisory to reiterate that communications equipment and services on the FCC’s Covered List have been deemed to pose a threat to the national security of the United States. The Advisory points out that the equipment and services on the Covered List are closely tied to foreign adversaries, like China, and can allow for unauthorized surveillance and communications network disruption, thereby threatening national security. Further, the Advisory strongly recommends that entities currently using or considering the purchase of communications equipment review the Covered List and fully consider the risks posed by the covered equipment and services. A list of the equipment and services companies currently included on the Covered List is provided as well as appendices that list the subsidiaries and affiliates of the entities on the Covered List.
- On October 15, 2025, the FCC announced that it had taken the initial step to revoke the authority of Hong Kong Telecom (HKT) to provide international and domestic telecom services to and within the United States. Specifically, the FCC sent an Order to Show Cause why the FCC should not commence revocation proceedings against them. The Show Cause Order indicates that HKT is affiliated with China Unicom (Americas) which is listed on the FCC’s Covered List due to national security concerns. The FCC’s announcement states that this action by the Commission ensures that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) controlled entities cannot connect to U.S. networks and cites similar past actions taken in recent years by the FCC against other CCP controlled entities. Finally, several HKT wholly owned subsidiaries are ordered to show why the Commission should not revoke their domestic authority pursuant to Section 214 of the Act. The Order to Show Cause required a response from HKT within 30 days. On October 31, 2025, HKT International and its wholly owned subsidiaries filed a motion with the Commission seeking an extension of the time to respond until December 15, 2025.
The recent actions described above indicate that National Security and Supply Chain related issues remain at the forefront of the Commission’s agenda. We will continue to follow these issues and will provide updates as more information becomes available.
