In a highly unusual action, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered a China-based electronics manufacturer to show cause why its FCC equipment authorization should not be revoked due to misrepresentations made by the company during its application process.
According to the Order issued in April 2015 by the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau, Shenzhen Tangreat Technology Company Ltd. submitted an application in 2009 to an authorized Telecommunications Certification Body (TCB) seeking authorization for a “Part 15 Class B computing peripheral” the company intended to sell in the U.S. As part of its submission, Shenzhen reportedly provided a block diagram and schematics of the device that depicted receiver circuitry, indicating that the device was actually an intentional radiator subject to different FCC requirements.
When notified by the TCB of the discrepancy, Shenzhen then reportedly submitted revised exhibits without the receiver circuitry that appeared to support the company’s initial characterization of the device as an unintentional radiator. As a result, TCB authorization was granted.
However, in a 2010 investigation into the marketing of an illegal cellphone jamming device, the Commission’s Enforcement Bureau determined that the original TCB authorization was being used to support claims that the jamming device under investigation had been authorized by the FCC. The Commission concluded that Shenzhen either submitted specifications that did not conform with the equipment for which it was seeking authorization, or that unauthorized changes were made to the equipment subsequent to authorization.
Under the terms of the Order to Show Cause, Shenzhen must present at a hearing evidence to refute the FCC’s findings or face the revocation of its equipment authorization.
