The FCC’s bans on foreign-made Wi-Fi routers and drones initially included an expiration date on software updates, but the commission has now extended the cutoff from 2027 to 2029.
As PCMag reports, on Friday, the FCC’s Office of Engineering and Technology (OET) issued an extension that permits previously authorized foreign-made drones and Wi-Fi routers to “continue to receive software and firmware updates that mitigate harm to US consumers” at least until Jan. 1, 2029.
Previously, affected routers could only receive software updates until March 1, 2027. For foreign-made drones, the cutoff date was set for Jan. 1, 2027.
The White House pushed the bans, arguing that foreign-made drones and Wi-Fi routers are a national security risk to US networks and infrastructure. The obvious problem is that both product types, widely owned by millions of consumers, risk becoming vulnerable to breaches without vendor-provided software updates, which often fix vulnerabilities hackers could exploit.
It looks like the Office of Engineering and Technology is moving to address the concern, citing “public interest,” after a major tech industry group urged the FCC to extend the deadline.
The extension notes: “These include all software and firmware updates to ensure the continued functionality of the devices, such as those that patch vulnerabilities and facilitate compatibility with different operating systems. OET finds that special circumstances warrant a deviation from the general rules and the public interest would be better served by extending the waiver of the prohibitions on these Class I permissive changes in these circumstances.”
The office also plans on recommending that the commission consider “codifying this waiver through a rulemaking,” the announcement says. “The continued limited duration of this waiver, which will also give the Commission an opportunity to consider a rulemaking on this subject, also reduces potential harm to the public interest.”
So, it’s possible the FCC could extend the cutoff time further, or even axe it altogether, depending on the future rulemaking. The office’s waiver adds that software and firmware updates involving more substantial “Class II permissive changes that mitigate harm to US consumers” are also permitted through Jan. 1, 2029. Before, the office was only permitting software updates classified as minor Class I permissive changes.
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