Funding shortfall for new tech endangers rural cell service, US FCC says

From the article:

Four years after Congress ordered U.S. network operators to remove all telephone and internet equipment made by the China-based companies Huawei and ZTE, citing security risks, the “rip-and-replace” program remains stalled due to a $3 billion funding shortfall — a shortfall that is larger than the $1.9 billion Congress appropriated for the task.

The Federal Communications Commission is now warning that some rural areas may lose cell service altogether if more funding does not materialize soon, as small carriers struggle to stay afloat against the pressure to spend millions of dollars replacing their networks.

In a letter sent Thursday to Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said 40 percent of local network operators cannot complete the removal of Huawei and ZTE equipment without more money and that some risked shutdown of their operations. “Several recipients have recently informed the Commission that they foresee significant consequences that could result from the lack of full funding, including having to shut down their networks or withdraw from the program,” Rosenworcel wrote.

Rosenworcel wrote that for certain operators, “a shutdown of all or part of their networks could eliminate the only provider in some regions.”

…

Huawei and ZTE equipment has always been de facto banned from major U.S. networks built by the likes of Sprint or Verizon, with U.S. officials considering the gear at higher risk of infiltration by China’s intelligence agencies. Small, rural U.S. operators were allowed to buy gear from Huawei and ZTE through the 2000s and most of the 2010s, as the phone calls and internet traffic they carried were considered less sensitive.