Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The United States wants to remove traces of Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE from its internet network. However, this project, which was claimed to be important for national security, ran out of budget.
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) stated that telecommunications companies receiving subsidies, which account for 40 percent of all cellular operators in the US, need additional funds to remove and replace all telecommunications equipment made by Huawei and ZTE in their networks.
The Huawei and ZTE equipment replacement project is estimated to require funds of US$ 4.98 billion. However, people's representatives in the US Congress only provided a budget of US$ 1.9 billion.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel has contacted Congress to request additional funding. Without additional budget, some cellular operators in the US will have to close their internet networks.
In October 2023, President Joe Biden requested an additional budget of US$ 3.1 billion. However, this request was ignored by Congress.
The “remove and replace” process in the US has been underway since 2019. The FCC requires all telecommunications companies that receive government subsidies to replace all Chinese-made devices on their networks.
The FCC provides subsidy funds to companies serving fewer than 2 million customers. The funds are used to cover 39.5 percent of the cost of replacing the device. After receiving funds from the government, mobile operators were given a deadline to remove, replace and dispose of all equipment made by Huawei and ZTE by February 2025.
Most of the telecommunications companies that receive US government subsidies operate in remote areas and are the only internet network providers in those areas.
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