FCC proposes new ultra-wideband rules that could spare outdoor door locks the waiver process

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has proposed updating its rules for ultra-wideband (UWB), the low-power radio technology devices use to measure distance precisely. The proposal was adopted on September 30 and published in the Federal Register on November 2, 2026, which set its comment deadlines. For smart home buyers, the key part is a new device category for products that so far have reached the market only through case-by-case waivers. Outdoor door locks are among the examples the FCC gives.

What the rules say now

The FCC adopted its first UWB rules in 2002 and sorted devices into set categories, including imaging systems, indoor systems and hand-held systems. As the notice describes it, a device in the hand-held category has to be held in the hand and cannot use fixed outdoor infrastructure. Waiver requests for outdoor keyless entry and door lock systems seek relief from exactly that.

The FCC says it has seen a sharp rise in near-identical requests of this kind, that they draw little or no public comment, and that they have produced no reports of harmful interference. It says it has been operating under “regulation by waiver”, a phrase it footnotes to the petition Robert Bosch LLC filed for new rules in 2019. A group including the Alliance for Automotive Innovation and the FiRa Consortium filed a second petition in December 2025.

What the FCC proposes

The new category would cover compact devices that can be mobile or fixed, indoors or outdoors. In return, the FCC lists these limits:

• Height limits, mounting restrictions and a requirement to direct emissions downward.
• Transmitting only during active sessions triggered by an event, and staying idle otherwise.
• No forming of wide-area networks.
• Low power, with a duty cycle under 1% in any 24-hour period.

The FCC's worked example is a door lock used up to ten times a day, each ranging round taking 660 microseconds, a figure it footnotes to a 2022 letter from Assa Abloy Group. On our arithmetic, ten such rounds come to 6.6 milliseconds of transmission, while a 1% limit would allow about 14.4 minutes a day. A real unlock may take more than one round, and the example does not say how many. The FCC is asking whether the limit should be measured over 24 hours or a shorter span, such as an hour or a minute.

It also asks whether to remove the 2002 ban on using UWB in toys, whether the ban on use aboard aircraft, ships and satellites is still warranted, whether to simplify marketing and labeling requirements, and whether AI-based sensing needs its own class.

What it means for buyers

Nothing changes for now. The full notice's footnotes cite earlier waiver orders, among them for Assa Abloy Group and Schlage Lock Company, the latter for a door lock meant to be mounted no more than 48 inches above the ground. UWB is already in consumer products. The FCC notes that most modern smartphones support it, and Apple says the LG Smart Deadbolt Lock in its Home Collection uses it to tell when a user is approaching the door. Apple says the collection goes on sale from December, with select accessories, which it does not name, following in early 2027. Our Apple Home Collection guide covers that lock's price and requirements.

The proposal deals with radio interference, not with how well a lock resists a break-in or a hack. Security labeling is a separate FCC track. On October 27, the agency's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau asked for comment on the label design, renewal process and post-market checks for its U.S. Cyber Trust Mark, which our Matter guide describes.

What happens next

The notice gives no date for a final decision, and these are proposals the FCC can still change. It says comments can be filed through the agency's Electronic Comment Filing System, at www.fcc.gov/ecfs, under ET Docket No. 26-245.