FCC Reminds Congress That $1.9B Isn't Enough to Replace Huawei, ZTE Equipment

pcmag.com:

FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has once again told(Opens in a new window) the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation that $1.9 billion isn't going to be enough to reimburse carriers for removing equipment made by Huawei and ZTE from their networks.

Congress ordered the removal of that equipment from US wireless networks with the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019(Opens in a new window), and in the process, it appropriated $1.9 billion to be disbursed via the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program.

Rosenworcel said in letters to the committee's leadership, including chair Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and ranking member Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS), that it would cost between $4.7 and $4.98 billion to cover the costs of removing the Chinese networking companies' gear.

This isn't the first time Rosenworcel has told Congress that $1.9 billion won't be enough to meet the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act's goals. She estimated in February that it would cost $5.6 billion to support carriers in the removal and replacement of this equipment.

Rosenworcel repeated that warning in letters to Congress sent on June 1, June 15, and July 15. As she summarized in the most recent letter to Cantwell, Wicker, and other senators:

[The June 1] letter explained that the anticipated shortfall largely reflected three developments: first, that the Act, as amended, expanded the range of entities eligible to participate in the Reimbursement Program; second, that the preliminary cost estimates did not consider the full range of costs that were ultimately reimbursable under the law; and third, that providers have reported increased costs since the program was funded due