In July 2021, the FCC, in a unanimous vote, declared that Huawei and ZTE network equipment should be removed from networks owned by small US telecommunications companies operating in rural America. These companies favored network equipment made by Huawei and ZTE due to their low prices. The cost of dismantling and replacing equipment sold by the two national security threats has been estimated at $1.9 billion, and even if Congress accepts that figure, the true cost will likely be $3 billion of more and this additional funding has not been approved by Congress. .
As a result, the FCC is giving some of the networks involved in its
Huawei and ZTE rip and replace program additional time to remove Huawei and ZTE equipment from their networks. According to LightReading, one example is Viaero Wireless. With a “rip and replace” deadline set for November 18, the telecommunications company wrote in a formal extension request in May: “As a small rural operation, we lack the financial resources to complete the project, because Congress has only provided 40% of the funds needed.”
The company added: “Congress maintains that replacement of covered communications equipment is essential to national security; it must therefore fully finance the reimbursement program. Without additional government funding, Viaero Wireless simply cannot complete the removal, replacement and disposal project; Congressional inaction and lack of funding is completely beyond our control.
Viaero covers most of the United States with unlimited service
Viaero Wireless wrote that it was requesting a six-month extension. Or as it told the FCC in its filing: “Without any assurance of additional funding from Congress, we respectfully request that the Commission find that our ability to complete permanent removal, replacement, and disposal by the end of the mandate is not due to any fault. from Viaero Wireless. Accordingly, we are requesting a six-month extension of the one-year completion deadline.
Fortunately for the telecommunications company, common sense prevailed before the FCC and the regulatory agency granted the extension, noting that “the lack of full funding rendered it (Viaero) unable to take the necessary steps to complete its respective removal, replacement and disposal processes. “.
Despite the FCC’s warnings to Congress that Huawei equipment “could capture sensitive information from military bases and missile silos,” the funds needed to carry out the “rip and replace” program have not been received . Yet the Biden administration is providing $60 billion in government subsidies for telecommunications services and networks operating in rural areas.
The FCC granted extensions to JVT, Viaero, Mediacom, All Points Broadband and WorldCell. The agency cited COVID-19 and supply chain issues as reasons to give these companies more time to remove Huawei and ZTE from their networks.
