Just 5 Participants Complete Rip-and-Replace Work, FCC Tells Congress
Just five telecom providers in the FCC's Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program filed a final certification, which indicates the "recipient has 'permanently removed from its communications network, replaced, and disposed of (or is in the process of permanently…
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
removing, replacing, and disposing of)'" all suspect Huawei and ZTE equipment, the commission told Congress Friday. Lawmakers have eyed legislative vehicles that could allocate an additional $3.1 billion, ensuring full reimbursement of rip-and-replace participants' costs, but haven't reached a deal yet (see 2311070050). Rip-and-replace participants "are continuing to work toward permanently removing, replacing, and disposing of the covered communications equipment and services in their networks," the FCC said in a report. "Recipients continue to indicate, however, that they are facing certain challenges that may hinder their ability to complete that work, both in general and within the time allowed by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act" and related FCC rules. "Roughly 47% of recipients indicated in their most recent status updates that lack of funding continues to be an obstacle to completing the permanent removal, replacement, and disposal of the covered communications equipment and services in their networks in their entirety, an increase from the 39% that had reported this when" the FCC communicated to Congress in July, the commission said: "Approximately 19% of recipients reported that they will be unable to finish the removal, replacement, and disposal process unless additional funding is provided." About 26% of recipients "contend that an extended period of time needed by the Fund Administrator to review Reimbursement Claims is also a challenge," the FCC said. Review times "have expanded primarily as a result of an increase in the number of claims submitted and the insufficiency of the information included in the claim." In addition, recipients cited supply chain issues and labor shortages as delay factors, the FCC said. By the end of December, the FCC received 12,983 reimbursement claims “across 122 of the 126 applications approved for a funding allocation.” The FCC said it has approved $396.5 million in disbursements to recipients and "granted eleven recipients’ requests for an extension of the one-year deadline to complete" the rip-and-replace process. "The deadlines now range from October 10, 2023 to November 16, 2024," the FCC said.