Failure to fund the FCC rip-and-replace program fully will lead to service shutdowns: Letter to Congress
The Competitive Carriers Association and seven other organizations are calling upon Congress to fully fund the costs associated with removing and replacing the equipment from foreign vendors which has been deemed a national security risk—and warning that if Congress does not make up the shortfall, service shutdowns could result.
The Federal Communications Commission’s Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, which was mandated by the Secure and Trusted “is a critical, and essentially the only, mechanism for wireless carriers and communications providers in rural America to remove, replace and destroy communications equipment and services in their networks that post a national security risk,” says the letter, which was provided to RCR Wireless News and is co-signed by CCA, the Wireless Infrastructure Association, the National Association of Tower Erectors (NATE), the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), the Rural Wireless Association (RWA), the Information Technology Industry Council, NTCA – the Rural Broadband Association and WTA – Advocates for Rural Broadband.
“Because of the funding shortfall, untrusted equipment is still in service today, including some near military bases, airports and other areas of strategic importance,” the letter continued.
The so-called rip-and-replace program has an estimated $3.08 billion shortfall, based on requests that eligible carriers made to the FCC. The letter urges Congress to allocate that funding before it adjourns for the year.
“Failure to fund the program will mean that carriers cannot complete the job of removing and replacing vital equipment in their networks, and the result will be partial or complete shutdowns of service in many areas where no other carrier provides service,” the letter says. “This will affect not only the rural carriers’ direct subscribers, but also the only connectivity available to millions of other consumers when travelling through their networks’ signals, including the ability to make emergency and 911 calls.”
The FCC first released a list of 162 eligible applicants in February, with the warning that providers had three times the original budgeted amount. The FCC says several factors caused the rise in reimbursement requests: That started with a decision to expand the program to include providers servicing up to 10 million subscribers, up from 2 million. Inflation and supply chain constraints have also ballooned costs. What’s more, the fund now requires ripping and replacement work to be done within a year, requiring a signifcant premium for an already challenging labor market. What’s more, the preliminary cost estimates ascertained in the original study didn’t actually account for the full range of carrier costs associated with reimbursement, as required by the final legislation.
Without the additional $3.08 billion to fully fund carrier requests, the FCC plans to apply the prioritization scheme Congress has already specified, which puts service providers with 2 million or fewer customers at the front of the line. But it will also prorate reimbursement funds to about 40% of what they have asked for—falling far short of the actual cost.
The letter said that affected carriers have already started the rip and replace process, including planning but added that “some carriers cannot begin implementation until more funding is available or they risk being stuck mid-stream with no path forward and no path back.”
