A bill that would free up more money for the FCC’s suspect tech rip-and-replace program — mandated by Congress — did not make it into the $1.7 trillion must-pass omnibus appropriations bill this week, according to an unhappy Competitive Carriers Association. The fact that the bill did extend FCC auction authority for a few more months, though, was some solace.
In the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks legislation, Congress mandated, and the Federal Communications Commission fully supported, a program for compensating providers with 10 million customers or fewer for removing and replacing network technology the agency has concluded is a potential national security threat — a list that started with Chinese companies ZTE and Huawei and has since expanded.
The proposed cap on reimbursing providers of advanced telecom services for the reasonable costs for removing, replacing and disposing of equipment had been for providers with 2 million customers. Now, the cap is 10 million. (The FCC in July 2021 voted to extend the reimbursement program to larger players.)
Congress set aside $1.98 billion of funding in the legislation mandating the program, while the FCC said in February it had received more than $5.5 billion in funding requests. The FCC may not approve all of those asks, but it will clearly need more money than Congress set aside.
Also: FCC Opens Rip-and-Replace Window
“It is very disappointing that the remaining $3.08 billion shortfall in funding for the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program was not included as part of the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act,” CCA president and CEO Stephen K. Berry said. “Many eligible small and rural carriers began work over two years ago, or are frozen without sufficient funding to begin work, to remove and replace covered equipment to answer Congress’s national security mandate to address the threat posed by Chinese equipment. Full funding is desperately needed for this work to be completed. Without adequate funding, not only their customers, but also the millions that roam on their networks each year, risk losing service. This is unacceptable in today’s day and age.”
Berry did give Congress credit for including legislation extending the FCC’s auction authority, which would have expired without reauthorization, until March — essentially kicking the can down the road. But he said he would have preferred a longer extension of that authority. ▪️
