US carriers are seeking $5.6 billion in reimbursements after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) moved to remove Huawei and ZTE equipment from national telecommunications networks.
In 2019, the FCC voted unanimously to prohibit carriers from using the Universal Service Fund to subsidize purchases of equipment from companies identified as national security threats. Huawei and ZTE were the first firms designated under that policy.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump signed the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act, which requires carriers to remove equipment from Huawei and ZTE from their networks.
Equipment from Huawei and ZTE is not as prevalent in US networks as it is in some other regions. Within the United States, the vendors’ gear is primarily used by smaller operators that adopted their equipment to contain deployment costs. Those smaller carriers have been disproportionately affected by the FCC’s decision.
To help address the financial burden on affected providers, the FCC created the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program to cover the costs of removing, replacing, and disposing of equipment and services deemed insecure in US networks.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel commented on the program:
“Last year, Congress created a first-of-its-kind program for the FCC to reimburse service providers for their efforts to increase the security of our nation’s communications networks.
We’ve received over 181 applications from carriers who have developed plans to remove and replace equipment in their networks that pose a national security threat.
While we have more work to do to review these applications, I look forward to working with Congress to ensure that there is enough funding available for this program to advance Congress’s security goals and ensure that the US will continue to lead the way on 5G security.”
The FCC opened the application window for the reimbursement program on October 29, 2021. The filing window closed on January 28, 2022.
An estimated $5.6 billion in claims has been submitted by carriers seeking reimbursement under the program.
(Photo by Abby Savage on Unsplash)
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