US Congress to fund dismantling of Chinese telecommunications equipment

The US House of Representatives is set to vote on an annual defense bill that would allocate about $3 billion to American telecommunications companies. These funds are intended for the removal of equipment from Chinese telecommunications companies Huawei and ZTE.

This is reported by Reuters.

The 1,800-page document contains, among other things, the requirements of a report on China's attempts to evade US national security rules and an assessment of its current state of biotechnology capabilities.

The Federal Communications Commission previously said that the removal of unprotected equipment would cost $4.98 billion, but Congress had previously approved only $1.9 billion for the “tear and replace” program.

Before this, Washington had already called on US allies to remove Huawei and other Chinese equipment from their wireless networks.

Currently, the network equipment replacement program for 126 carriers is facing a $3.08 billion shortfall. The lack of funding could lead to the shutdown of some rural networks, which “could destroy the sole provider in some areas” and could threaten 911 service.

In 2019, Congress ordered the Federal Communications Commission to require U.S. telecom carriers that receive federal subsidies to purge their networks of Chinese telecom equipment. The White House requested $3.1 billion for the program in 2023.