The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has issued a Direct Final Rule aimed at modernizing its engineering and technology regulations by purging facially obsolete, long-forgotten provisions. Tracked under ET Docket No. 25-133 (FCC 25-85) and published in the Federal Register under FR Document 2026-01442, this sweeping administrative cleanup eliminates 36 rule provisions across 47 CFR Parts 2, 15, and 18. The targeted deregulatory initiative eliminates more than 12,000 words of outdated text to reduce unnecessary regulatory burdens, accelerate infrastructure deployment, and spur technical innovation.
The technical adjustments remove legacy, unused hardware rules to clean up the Code of Federal Regulations[cite: 3]. Notable changes include the removal and reservation of Section 15.121 (governing scanning receivers), Section 15.233 (legacy cordless telephones), and Section 15.515 (outdated ultra-wideband radar parameters). Furthermore, the Commission has completely removed and reserved Part 15 Subpart G, which previously governed Broadband Over Power Line (BPL) equipment. By striking these rules, the FCC intends to eliminate regulatory ambiguity for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) working with modern intentional and unintentional RF radiators.
The rule changes are scheduled to officially take effect on March 27, 2026, unless significant adverse comments are received by the Commission on or before February 17, 2026. Alongside this technical cleanup, the Federal Register publication formally confirmed the parallel activation of updated Part 20 hearing aid compatibility (HAC) rules, finalizing a multi-year transition toward achieving 100% wireless handset model compatibility through updated Bluetooth coupling and electronic reporting metrics.
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