US Congress urged to fund FCC Rip and Replace program to secure communications networks from China
Bipartisan members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee have urged the U.S. Congress to fund the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC)’s Rip and Replace program to secure the nation’s communications networks from China. The move follows the deadline for carriers to choose to participate in the program, which provides funds to American communications providers to remove equipment that poses a national security threat.
“We are extremely disappointed that the FCC’s rip and replace program has still not been fully funded by Congress,” Cathy McMorris Rodgers, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair and a Republican from Washington; Frank Pallone, Jr., Committee Ranking Member and a New Jersey Democrat; Bob Latta, Communications and Technology Subcommittee Chair and a Republican from Ohio; and Doris Matsui, Subcommittee Ranking Member and Californian Democrat, wrote in a Monday statement. “This program provides funding to American communications providers to remove suspect equipment like Huawei and ZTE from our communications infrastructure.”
The statement added that “the longer Congress waits to address the funding shortfall in this program, the more we jeopardize America’s national security by leaving our networks vulnerable to espionage by adversaries like China.”
The committee member said that they “continue to work with our colleagues on the Energy and Commerce Committee and in House leadership to bring H.R. 3565, the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act to the floor, which fully funds this program. It’s critical that we find a path forward as soon as possible to finish securing our networks and strengthening our national defense.”
In May, the Energy and Commerce Committee advanced H.R. 3565, the Spectrum Auction Reauthorization Act of 2023 out of committee and to the House floor by a bipartisan vote of 50-0. The bill would extend spectrum auction authority, make important changes to existing spectrum auction processes, and direct spectrum auction proceeds to fund critical programs. Additionally, it would promote national security and public safety by providing US$3.08 billion for small communications providers to remove Huawei and ZTE from their networks, as well as authorize and fund next generation 9-1-1 technology.
Competitive Carriers Association President and CEO Tim Donovan commented in a Monday statement that the FCC’s July 17, 2023 deadline by which Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (Rip and Replace) participants must submit a reimbursement request which, upon payment, triggers the statutory one-year deadline for project completion.
“Today marks a dark deadline for carriers participating in the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program (Program) to submit ‘rip and replace’ reimbursement claims,” according to Donovan. “Because Congress has not yet fully funded the Program, carriers are forced to undertake the endeavor of removing untrusted equipment with 40% of otherwise approved cost estimates to completely remove, replace, and destroy this untrusted equipment. Absent full funding, networks in many rural and sensitive parts of our country are at ever-increasing risk of breaking down and going dark.”
Donovan added that because of the funding shortfall, impacted carriers must make decisions to ‘rip’ but not ‘replace,’ including in areas where no other carrier provides service. “This dire situation ignores our country’s national security and the connectivity of millions of Americans.”
“Carriers relied on assurances from Congress that full funding would be provided and began the rip and replace process before the Program was fully funded,” Donovan said. “While the Program has strong bipartisan support, time is of the essence to provide the remaining $3.08 billion to secure America’s communications networks. Each day that passes while the funding shortfall remains has real consequences on connectivity in rural America.”
The FCC’s Wireless Competition Bureau submitted a report to Congress earlier this month on the implementation of the Supply Chain Reimbursement Program and the work done by recipients to permanently remove, replace, and dispose of covered communications equipment or services.
The report once again highlighted that Reimbursement Program recipients continue to report that they are experiencing four main challenges in their efforts to permanently remove, replace, and dispose of covered communications equipment and services in their networks. These drawbacks include lack of funding, supply chain delays, labor shortages, and weather-related challenges.
The report concluded that the FCC has worked diligently to implement the Reimbursement Program in compliance with the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act and to protect the Reimbursement Program from waste, fraud, and abuse. “When recipients submit their next status updates on July 10, 2023, and second spending reports on August 10, 2023, the Bureau anticipates it will have additional insight into how much progress recipients have made on their removal, replacement, and disposal plans and the overall status of the Reimbursement Program. The Bureau will update Congress on these points and any new efforts by the Commission to implement the Reimbursement Program in its next report due January 8, 2024,” it added.
“Recipients for whom the Bureau has approved distributions of reimbursement funds now have deadlines to remove all Huawei and ZTE communications equipment and services ranging from September 29, 2023 to June 30, 2024, based on the initial distribution of funds to the recipient,” according to the report. “Removal, replacement, and disposal deadlines will continue to be set on an application-specific basis as recipients continue to submit Reimbursement Claims that result in an initial distribution of reimbursement funds.”
Furthermore, on May 24, 2023, the Bureau released a Public Notice reminding recipients of the July 17, 2023, deadline to file at least one Reimbursement Claim, and cautioning recipients that failure to meet this obligation would result in the recipient’s allocated funding being reclaimed. “This is consistent with the Commission’s recognition that compliance with the one-year deadline to file an initial reimbursement claim is important to ensure the timely completion of removal, replacement, and disposal as contemplated by Congress in the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act,” it added.
In February, the FCC published a final rule in the Federal Register related to equipment authorization to further secure the nation’s communications networks and supply chain from equipment that poses an unacceptable risk to the national security of the U.S. or the security and safety of its citizens. The move seeks to protect against national security threats to the communications supply chain using the Equipment Authorization Program.
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