The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has compiled a list of telecom carriers that say they use at least some Huawei and ZTE equipment or services in their networks. These operators say it would cost USD 1.837 billion to remove and replace Huawei and ZTE equipment on their networks. The companies that qualify for reimbursement of the costs by the US government say it could require USD 1.618 billion to shift the equipment. Other providers may not yet have participated in the information collection and may still be eligible for reimbursement.
The FCC put out an order in November 2019 barring the use of Universal Service Fund support for the purchase of equipment and services from companies that pose a national security threat, such as Huawei and ZTE. Staff were then ordered to collect this information on the cost of replacing existing equipment from the Chinese suppliers. In June/July this year, the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau issued final designations, saying Huawei and ZTE pose national security threats for communications networks.
With the list, FCC chairman Ajit Pai said he “strongly” urges Congress to appropriate funding to reimburse carriers for replacing equipment or services “determined to be a national security threat so that we can protect our networks and the myriad parts of our economy and society that rely upon them.”
