The FCC's consumer-router ban is now moving through waivers and conditional approvals, with Light Reading listing Vantiva, CTIA and WNC among the latest companies navigating the docket.

Light Reading reported that the ban on new foreign-made consumer routers took effect in March.

The trade publication said the recent docket activity includes conditional approvals, expedited waivers and new petitions from suppliers that need to change customer-premises equipment during component shortages.

Vantiva Received Conditional Approval For A DOCSIS 3.1+ Modem

Light Reading reported that Vantiva received conditional approval this week for the CWA438TX, a DOCSIS 3.1+ modem with integrated voice-over-IP support.

The same report said the Broadcom-powered model can deliver downstream speeds around 8 Gbit/s on cable networks that open additional OFDM channels.

The approval matters inside the FCC process because the agency's waiver and conditional-approval path exempts certain products from its Covered List.

Light Reading described the Covered List as the FCC register for devices and services determined to pose an unacceptable risk to the U.S., maintained by the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau.

The docket is also being shaped by memory supply.

Light Reading reported that customer-premises equipment vendors are seeking new memory sources or changing memory type and size in products that previously received FCC authorisations, as well as in new router, modem and gateway models.

CTIA And WNC Asked For Expedited Waivers

CTIA filed a petition on July 6 seeking an expedited waiver for member companies and suppliers to make changes to customer-premises equipment, according to Light Reading.

The petition covered memory-module substitutions and other components affected by shortages, including diodes and RF filters.

The article said CTIA members include American Tower, AT&T, EchoStar, T-Mobile and Verizon.

That keeps the request tied to mobile and broadband infrastructure suppliers rather than a single router vendor.

WNC Corp. filed a similar petition on July 2 for Class I and Class II hardware changes to consumer-grade routers already on the FCC's Covered List, Light Reading reported.

The Taiwan-based company makes customer-premises equipment for several U.S. broadband operators.

WNC said it is working to onshore manufacturing capabilities in the U.S. while handling near-term supply-chain constraints for routers manufactured in Taiwan.

Light Reading reported that WNC listed possible substitutions for DRAM, NAND flash and embedded MultiMediaCards, depending on the product.

FCC Docket Lists Approvals Through 2028

Light Reading's roundup listed several approved and pending requests.

Light Reading reported that Arcadyan Technology received an expedited waiver and separate conditional approval for several customer-premises devices for three U.S. mobile operators.

Light Reading also listed conditional approvals for Calix, Amazon's eero devices, Hitron, Miri Technologies, Netgear, Nokia, Sagemcom and Vantiva.

The Vantiva approval for the CWA438TX runs through January 8, 2028, while ACA Connects/NTCA, Askey Compute Corp., USTelecom and WNC were listed as awaiting approval.

Remaining Router Waivers Are Still Unapproved

The article did not include final FCC decisions on the CTIA, WNC, ACA Connects/NTCA, Askey Compute Corp. or USTelecom requests, and it did not name approval dates for those pending waiver petitions.