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TP-Link offers US router assembly as it seeks FCC clearance for Wi-Fi 8 models
TP-Link has lined up a Mississippi contractor to build its Wi-Fi 8 routers stateside from 2027 at the earliest, Ars Technica and PCMag report. The nearly $1 billion it has floated is TP-Link's own figure and hinges on FCC approval.
- Ars Technica (share link, same article as [1]) is now reporting this
- Our desk updated its story
- Our desk updated its story
- PCMag is now reporting this
- Our desk updated its story
2 earlier updates
- New headline Was: “TP-Link tries to appease Trump admin with pledge to assemble routers in US”
- Our desk filed its story
- Key Tronic would put the routers together at its Corinth, Mississippi, plant under a letter of intent.
- TP-Link says it would invest nearly $1 billion, but only if the FCC clears its Wi-Fi 8 routers for sale.
- Components would still be imported, and TP-Link says the government hasn't said how much US content is enough.
- Republican state attorneys general are pressing the FCC to scrutinize the application.
The point is there isn’t a lot of clarity — Steve Kovsky, TP-Link corporate affairs officer (to PCMag)
Router maker TP-Link is offering to move final assembly of its next-generation Wi-Fi 8 gear onto US soil, starting no sooner than 2027 and only with Washington's sign-off, according to Ars Technica and PCMag1,2. The partner would be Key Tronic, a contract manufacturer headquartered in Spokane Valley, Washington, which agreed in an Oct. 19 letter of intent to take on the work at its Corinth, Mississippi, site1,2.
The pledge is aimed at Washington. Under the FCC's ban on consumer routers made wholly or partly abroad, TP-Link's Wi-Fi 8 line is barred from US shelves, though models cleared earlier are still sold1. Writing to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr last week, TP-Link put a price of nearly $1 billion on its US manufacturing plans and said the money depends on a green light for the new routers1,2. That figure is TP-Link's own and rests on FCC approval; Steve Kovsky, TP-Link's corporate affairs officer, told PCMag it would cover more than the Key Tronic deal2.
The offer is conditional, and the routers would still rely on imported parts. Ars notes most components in TP-Link's Vietnam-assembled routers reportedly come from China1. Kovsky also told PCMag that many parts are not available from US suppliers and that the government has published no threshold for how much US content is enough. "The point is there isn’t a lot of clarity," he said2. Before the FCC grants an exemption, the Defense Department or Homeland Security must first find that the devices pose no national security risk1,2.
Rivals including Netgear, Asus, Amazon's Eero and SpaceX's Starlink have received exemptions1,2, and TP-Link has asked to be judged by the same standards1. In the PCMag interview, Kovsky denied any effort to get around the regulator and suggested that, read his way, the rules may not require an exemption for routers made domestically2. The FCC did not respond to PCMag's request for comment2.
TP-Link also faces lawsuits from the attorneys general of Florida, Montana, Iowa and Nebraska1,2, and a letter from 21 Republican attorneys general urging the FCC to demand remedies as part of its review1.
Sources
How it’s being reported
3 sources
TP-Link tries to appease Trump admin with pledge to assemble routers in US
Frames the assembly plan as a bid for the administration's approval rather than a manufacturing shift.
Jon Brodkin's report on TP-Link's US assembly pledge, its pitch to the FCC, and the state attorneys general opposing it.
Leaves out Does not name Key Tronic's home base or the size of TP-Link's Vietnam workforce.
Facing Ban, TP-Link Taps US Company to Build Wi-Fi Routers Domestically
Leads with the Key Tronic partnership and gives most of its space to TP-Link's own account of its plans and its compliance.
Michael Kan's interview with TP-Link corporate affairs officer Steve Kovsky on the Key Tronic deal, the unclear US-content rules and the company's exemption bid.
Leaves out Does not detail the letter from 21 Republican attorneys general.
TP-Link tries to appease Trump admin with pledge to assemble routers in US
Gives this outlet’s account of the story.
A social-media short link that redirects to the same Jon Brodkin Ars Technica report listed first above; kept for the record, not cited.