FCC Announces Conditional Approval of Certain Routers and Uncrewed Aircraft Systems and Exemption From FCC Covered List

The Federal Communications Commission’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau maintains a list of equipment and services (Covered List) that have been determined to “pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States or the security and safety of United States persons.”  Pursuant to section 2 of the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 (Secure Networks Act)2 and the FCC’s rules, PSHSB announces that the Department of War (DoW) has granted conditional approvals for certain routers and uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS).  Therefore, such devices are exempt from the Covered List. On March 23, 2026, the FCC added to the Covered List “routers produced in a foreign country, except routers which have been granted a Conditional Approval by DoW or DHS.” This addition was based on a National Security Determination from an Executive Branch interagency body, including several appropriate national security agencies, determining (among other things) that routers produced in a foreign country pose an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States and to the safety and security of U.S. persons. The Executive Branch interagency bodies established a process in which entities producing UAS and UAS critical components and routers in foreign countries can request DoW or DHS to evaluate whether such devices do not pose unacceptable risks to national security and receive Conditional Approvals that would exempt such devices from the Covered List.  DoW has reviewed submissions and granted Conditional Approvals, for the following devices:  

• Netgear, Inc.’s Nighthawk consumer mesh, mobile and standalone routers (R, RAX, RAXE, RS, MK, MR, M and MH series), Orbi consumer mesh, mobile and standalone routers (RBK, RBE, RBR, RBRE, LBR, LBK and CBK series), cable gateways (CAX series) and cable modems (CM series) (terminating October 1, 2027)
• Adtran Inc.’s  Service Delivery Gateway (SDG) class routers (terminating October 1, 2027)