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UPDATE 5/15: The FCC has granted AT&T a one-year waiver, permitting the carrier's suppliers to make the minor hardware changes to already approved foreign-made Wi-Fi routers.
The FCC's Office of Engineering and Technology wrote the waiver lasts "until May 15, 2027, for the limited purpose of AT&T’s suppliers making hardware Class I and Class II permissive changes to substitute substrate materials and memory modules in its previously certified routers of its suppliers."
"This waiver does not undermine the national security and public safety purpose of the rule, given that, among other facts, the hardware changes will not improve performance or capability or alter the functionality of the previously-authorized device; will not be used to market the device as a distinct model; and will not involve swapping a US-produced component for a foreign produced component," the office added.
Original story:
The US ban on foreign-made Wi-Fi routers is supposed to spare products already on store shelves, but the ongoing memory shortage could affect them anyway, AT&T warns.
In a Monday filing with the FCC, AT&T noted that “global supply chain shortages,” including for DRAM and NAND flash, could have unintended consequences for the router ban.
Under the rules, vendors can continue issuing software-based updates to foreign-made Wi-Fi routers already approved for sale in the US. On Friday, the FCC extended the software update cutoff from early 2027 to at least Jan. 1, 2029.
However, AT&T is calling on the commission to permit vendors to make incremental hardware-based changes to existing router models as well as software updates. “Two urgent supply chain issues have arisen that necessitate permissive hardware changes not covered by existing waivers and require expedited action by OET [FCC Office of Engineering and Technology]: global shortages in necessary substrate material and memory modules,” the carrier said.
AT&T says one manufacturer can no longer source a chipset used in previously certified routers. “Specifically, the particular type of substrate used in the routers’ chipset is running out.”
Although parts of the letter have been redacted, AT&T is indicating that the matter is urgent. “The substrate issue is a specific and critical need," the company says. "AT&T’s suppliers must substitute new substrate material...in order to continue production."
AT&T added: “The memory issue is somewhat broader in that a global, chronic shortage of certain memory has been driven by large-scale AI deployments. As a result, suppliers around the world are being forced to adapt and find new sources of memory components."
Manufacturers can fix the problem by substituting new components. But AT&T says this would require the FCC to issue a waiver and allow relatively minor, hardware-based “Class I” and “Class II permissive changes” for the router models.
“Without the requested waivers, suppliers would be unable to react to changes in the availability of particular, high-demand components, and these previously certified designs would be effectively banned from further sale in the United States, causing potentially substantial disruptions in the availability of broadband for AT&T’s customers,” the carrier adds. “These waivers thus clearly serve the public interest.”
Neither the FCC nor AT&T immediately responded to a request for comment. But the commission has said that both consumer-grade Wi-Fi routers and "ISP-provided residential gateways that combine modem and router functions in a single device" are subject to the ban.
AT&T is asking for “expedited action” on its request. So far, the Trump administration has only granted short-term exemptions to the ban to four vendors: Amazon’s eero, Netgear, Adtran, and Calix, all of which are US companies.