The Short Answer
On June 26, the FCC announced it will ban imports of equipment from Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua — and this time the ban reaches older models, not just new ones (Reuters, June 26, 2026). It takes effect in July. Your existing cameras will not shut off. But if your building runs Hikvision or Dahua gear — and a lot of Nashville buildings do, often without knowing it — the supply of replacement units, spare parts, and matching hardware is being cut off at the border. The smart move is to find out what you're actually running, then plan the swap on your schedule instead of during an emergency.
ICTAlly has never installed covered-list equipment. Every camera platform we deploy — Avigilon, Axis Communications, Hanwha Vision — is outside the banned list, which is why none of our clients have to care about this news. Here's what everyone else should know.
What the FCC Actually Announced
Back in November 2022, the FCC stopped authorizing new models of telecom and video surveillance equipment from five Chinese manufacturers it designated as national security risks: Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua. That left a loophole — models authorized before the 2022 cutoff could keep flowing into the country, and they did, by the container load.
The June 26 action closes that loophole. Imports of the older, previously grandfathered models are now banned too, with the restriction taking effect in July 2026. The covered uses are the ones that matter to commercial buildings: public safety, security of facilities, and physical security surveillance.
This is the third round in eight months, and the direction of travel is obvious:
- December 2025: imports of new models of Chinese drones banned
- March 2026: imports of new models of Chinese-made consumer routers banned
- June 2026: the camera and telecom ban extended from new models to legacy models
Each round reaches further into gear that ordinary businesses buy. Betting your security system on this trend reversing is not a plan.
This Started With the NDAA, Not the FCC
If the five names sound familiar, it's because Congress got here first. Section 889 of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act barred federal agencies — and contractors doing federal work — from using video surveillance and telecom equipment from these same five companies. That's been the law for federal work since 2019; it's why NDAA-compliant camera systems are their own service line for us, especially around Fort Campbell.
The sequence looks like this: 2019, banned for federal work. 2022, no new models authorized for sale. 2026, no more imports at all — old models included. Every step pushed the restriction deeper into the ordinary commercial market. If your business ever touches government work — federal, and increasingly state and municipal — the compliance bar you'll be asked to clear already exists, and it's written into contracts as Section 889 flow-down language.
Need help with this?
Call (629) 280-2800 or request a free assessment. We respond within 24 hours.
How to Tell If Your Building Is Running Covered Gear
Here's the trap: most covered cameras in the field don't say Hikvision or Dahua anywhere on the housing. Both companies build cameras that get relabeled and sold under dozens of other brand names — Lorex and Amcrest, for example, have historically been built on Dahua hardware, and Hikvision OEMs are all over the budget camera market. A logo you've never heard of, or even one you have, can be covered equipment underneath.
Three ways to check what you actually own:
- Log into the recorder. Open your NVR or camera web interface and look at the System Information page — manufacturer and model are usually listed there, even on rebranded units.
- Read the sticker. Every camera and recorder has an FCC ID on the label. The first characters identify the actual manufacturer, and the ID can be looked up in the FCC's public database.
- Pull the invoice. Model numbers on your original install paperwork can be cross-referenced. If your installer can't tell you who actually made the cameras, that tells you something too.
If you don't want to crawl through admin pages, we inventory the make and model of every device as part of a free on-site assessment — it takes us about an hour for a typical small building.
Your Cameras Won't Shut Off — Here's the Real Risk
Nothing in the FCC order requires you to remove installed equipment, and there's no kill switch. The risk is slower and more expensive than that:
| Risk | What it looks like in practice |
|---|---|
| Dead camera, no match | A unit fails in year three and the matching replacement can no longer be legally imported. You end up bolting a different platform onto the old recorder — or replacing more than you planned, on someone else's timeline. |
| Firmware & support decay | Security patches and tech support for gear the US is actively banning will not get better. These are network-attached devices with documented vulnerabilities — an unpatched camera is a foothold on your network. |
| Insurance questionnaires | Cyber and commercial policies increasingly ask what's on your network. "Banned covered-list surveillance equipment" is not the answer you want on a renewal form. |
| Contract exposure | Section 889 language flows down through federal contracts and subcontracts. Around Clarksville and Fort Campbell we see it constantly — defense contractors, logistics firms, and their suppliers. Banks and financial institutions are under similar scrutiny. |
None of this means panic-ripping cameras off the wall this week. It means the clock on your current system started ticking, and you get to choose whether the replacement happens as a planned project or an emergency.
What Replacing Covered Cameras Actually Costs
Real numbers from our Middle Tennessee project data: commercial camera installation runs $300 to $800 per camera installed, and a full 8-camera commercial system typically lands between $4,000 and $7,000.
Swap-outs usually come in at the low end of that range, because the expensive half of a camera install is the infrastructure — and yours already exists. In most rip-and-replace projects we reuse the existing Cat6 cabling and mounting points, pull the covered units, and hang compliant Avigilon, Axis, or Hanwha Vision cameras in their place. The building keeps its cable plant; only the hardware changes.
For buildings with a lot of cameras, a phased swap works: covered units watching entrances, cash handling, and exterior approaches get replaced first; interior hallway cameras ride out their service life and get swapped by attrition. You spread the cost over quarters instead of eating it in one bite.
How ICTAlly Stays Ahead of This
We made the platform call years ago and it wasn't complicated: gear that Congress bans from federal buildings has no business in our clients' buildings either. So we never stocked or installed covered-list equipment — every system we've deployed is NDAA-compliant, and every project ships with a documented make-and-model inventory so a compliance officer, insurer, or contracting officer can verify it in writing.
Where a US-based manufacturer competes on merit, we spec it: PDK access control is built by a Utah company, and Ubiquiti's UniFi line — much of our network gear — is a US-headquartered company. On the camera side, the compliant market is led by Axis (Sweden), Hanwha Vision (South Korea), and Avigilon (owned by Chicago-based Motorola Solutions) — and as more US-made camera lines mature, we'll spec those when they win on performance and price. What we won't do is put banned equipment on your network because it was cheap that week.
One honest disclaimer, same as we give every compliance client: we install and document the equipment; final compliance determinations for your contracts rest with your contracting officer or counsel. We just make sure the equipment facts are in writing and on your side.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to remove my Hikvision or Dahua cameras now?
No. The FCC action is an import ban — it stops new gear at the border and doesn't order anything removed from private buildings. The exception is federal work: Section 889 has barred covered equipment from federal contracts since 2019, so if you're bidding on or performing government work, removal may already be a contract requirement, not a choice.
Will my existing cameras stop working?
No. They'll keep recording exactly as they do today. The practical risks are replacement availability, firmware and support decay, insurance questions, and contract compliance — which is why we recommend a planned phase-out over a panic replacement.
How do I find out if my off-brand cameras are really Hikvision or Dahua inside?
Check the FCC ID on the device label against the FCC's public database, look at the System Information page in the camera or NVR web interface, or cross-reference the model numbers on your install invoice. OEM relabeling is everywhere in the budget camera market, so the brand on the housing proves very little. We verify actual manufacturers device-by-device during a free assessment.
What should defense contractors near Fort Campbell do?
Don't wait on the import ban — Section 889 already applies to your contracts. Get a documented make-and-model inventory of every camera and network device, replace anything covered, and keep the paperwork. That inventory is exactly what we hand over on every NDAA-compliant deployment.
Find Out What's On Your Walls
The businesses that get burned by rules like this are the ones that find out what they own during an emergency. A one-hour walk-through settles it: we inventory every camera and recorder, tell you plainly whether any of it is covered equipment, and — if it is — price a phased swap that reuses your cabling. If your system comes back clean, you'll have that in writing too.
Request a free assessment or call (629) 280-2800. Veteran-owned, Brentwood-based, and none of our installs are on the banned list.