House lawmakers join effort to remove flagged Chinese tech from telecom networks

Funding for the Federal Communications Commission’s initiative to remove risky Chinese-made components from the nation’s communications networks could see a needed boost following the introduction of a new House measure.

After U.S. officials expressed concern that telecommunications equipment produced by Chinese-based companies Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation posed a national security threat, Congress directed the FCC in 2020 to establish a “rip and replace” program to reimburse communications providers for the removal and replacement of in-use devices made by the two firms. 

While the reimbursement program was initially allocated $1.9 billion, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told lawmakers in a May letter that the initiative would require approximately $4.98 billion in total “to fund all reasonable and supported cost estimates.” 

Rosenworcel added that 40% of the participants told the agency they could not complete the work without additional funding, and that other providers — particularly those in rural regions — had warned that associated funding challenges could lead to some or all of their networks shutting down. 

In a bill introduced on Aug. 9, Rep. August Pfluger, R-Texas, proposed giving the FCC the needed funding while also requiring the agency to auction off certain spectrum licenses that had been returned back to it. 

The legislation would direct the Treasury Department to allocate roughly $3 billion to the FCC, with the funding being offset by the agency’s re-auctioning of returned spectrum. Within one year of the bill’s enactment, the FCC would be required to “grant licenses for spectrum in the inventory of the commission.”

The proposal is co-sponsored by Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D.

In a statement, Pfluger — who chairs the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement and Intelligence — called the bill “vital to our national security.”

“If left unfunded, Chinese equipment such as Huawei and ZTE will remain in our networks, including near areas of strategic importance, such as military bases and airports,” he added. “Rural and remote areas would be hit the hardest as networks could shut down and eliminate the only mobile broadband service provider for entire communities."

Beyond communications providers utilizing components from flagged Chinese firms, other public entities have also purchased hardware from Beijing-linked companies.

An October 2022 report from Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology found that at least 1,681 state and local governments bought equipment from five Chinese firms banned by the federal government between 2015 and 2021.

The House bill is a companion to legislation introduced in March by Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont. Both bills include the same language.

In a statement announcing his measure, Daines warned that “rural providers must have the resources and ability to remove compromised equipment, and without it, there is a serious national security risk.”

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash. — who chairs the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee — also introduced legislation in March that would, in part, provide over $3 billion to help fund the FCC’s rip and replace program. 

Unlike the House and Senate companion proposals, Cantwell’s legislation would also boost the development of spectrum sharing technologies and restore broadband subsidies for rural communities. A scheduled committee markup of her bill, however, fell apart in March as a result of partisan disagreements over some of its provisions.