- US government set to vote on the removal of Huawei and ZTE equipment from its networks
- Concerns over national security cited on removal of Chinese tech
- Rural networks must be considered carefully, to ensure connectivity remains
The US House of Representatives is preparing to vote on a new defense bill that includes a $3 billion spend to help US telecommunications companies remove and replace equipment made by Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE.
The funding, which comes from the National Defense Authorization Act’s budget for 2025, will address national security risks as part of America’s crackdown on Chinese companies.
A 1,800-page document released over the weekend (via Reuters) also includes other measures that the US could be set to put into place to address its China-related concerns.
US preparing to remove Chinese telecoms equipment
The $3 billion in funding is expected to close a gap that was previously left open after $1.9 billion was previously earmarked for removing insecure equipment. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) estimates that the total cost would come to $4.98 billion.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel highlighted how important it is that the funding gap is closed, having called on Congress last week to provide extra cash. She said that the shortfall “put[s] both our national security and the connectivity of rural consumers who depend on these networks at risk.”
Rosenworcel explained that removing insecure equipment in some rural regions would bring down their only network, affecting critical services like 911.
Efforts to remove Huawei and ZTE gear from the country’s infrastructure follow an earlier 2019 mandate by the US Congress to remove Chinese equipment from US networks.
The United States aren’t the only region looking to reduce their reliance on Chinese hardware. Britain announced in 2022 that “Huawei technology must be removed from the UK’s 5G public networks by the end of 2027.”
Although the UK said that this was over concerns that Huawei would no longer be able to access advanced chips as a result of US sanctions, impacting the company’s ability to maintain its infrastructure, it’s widely believed that cybersecurity concerns were also at play.