US FCC asking $5.6B to replace Chinese networking equipment

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairwoman is asking $5.6B from Congress seeks to reimburse carriers for removing and replacing insecure 5G networking equipment – those made by banned Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE.

Congress had initially set aside $1.9B for the replacement program under The Supply Chain Reimbursement Program created by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act. However, after FCC received 181 applications from carriers, the total cost has been estimated to $5.6B revealing a shortfall of $3.7B.

For more information see the FCC press release [PDF]: CHAIRWOMAN ROSENWORCEL NOTIFIES CONGRESS OF DEMAND TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SECURE AND TRUSTED COMMUNICATIONS REIMBURSEMENT PROGRAM