U.S. House of Representatives plans $3 billion to remove Chinese telecom equipment

According to the latest reports, the U.S. House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a $3 billion appropriation to remove Chinese telecommunications equipment. The origin of this plan can be traced back to 2019, when the U.S. Congress passed a law requiring U.S. telecom operators that receive federal subsidies to remove Chinese telecommunications equipment, mainly Huawei and ZTE products, from their networks. Although the main motivation for this decision is national security considerations, the implementation process is much more complicated than expected. According to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), nearly 40% of U.S. telecommunications companies that receive federal support need additional government funds to remove Chinese-made equipment. The estimated cost of equipment removal is as high as $4.98 billion, but the U.S. Congress has currently only approved $1.9 billion for the "removal and replacement" plan. This means that even if the House of Representatives passes a $3 billion appropriation, there is still a funding gap of about $980 million. FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworcel has repeatedly called on Congress to urgently provide additional funds and warned that if funds are insufficient, some operators participating in the reimbursement plan may be forced to shut down their networks, which will cause serious inconvenience to the majority of American users. Especially those telecommunications companies whose service coverage covers many rural and remote areas of the United States, they may be the only mobile broadband service providers in these areas. If these networks are shut down, these areas may lose their only internet service.