The U.S. telecommunications regulator needs an additional $3 billion to fund the removal of equipment made by Chinese telecom giants Huawei and ZTE from U.S. networks, bringing the total cost to $4.9 billion, the agency told Congress on Friday.”To fund all reasonable and supported cost estimates … the reimbursement program will require $4.98 billion, reflecting the current $3.08 billion shortfall,” Jessica Rosenworcel, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, said in a letter to Sen. Jessica Rosenworcel on Friday. Maria Cantwell, who leads the Committee on Trade, Science and Transport. Since Congress has only allocated $1.9 billion to fund the removal process, the companies would only be reimbursed for about 40 percent of the costs, she added.
In 2019, Congress passed a law tasking the FCC with making US telecommunications carriers that receive federal subsidies clear their networks of telecommunications equipment that poses a national security risk, with promises of reimbursement. The FCC has named Huawei and ZTE as threats that are forcing US companies to remove their equipment or be frozen out of an $8.3 billion government fund to buy new equipment. However, Congress has only allocated $1.9 billion to fund the so-called “rip and replace” effort, raising questions about how effectively the removal program will be implemented.”If additional funds are not allocated, the Commission will use the priority scheme specified by Congress,” Rosenworcel said in the letter, adding that the Commission will begin processing reimbursement requests “as they are allocated in the coming days.”Companies are not obligated to complete the work until they receive compensation.
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