The FCC told Congress that as of June 30, the agency and the administrator of the Rip & Replace reimbursement fund received 5,531 applications from 86 of the 126 approved applications for a funding allocation. The Wireline Competition Bureau and the FCC’s Office of Managing Director okayed a little over $190 million in reimbursement claims from Priority 1 telecoms, those with two million or fewer customers. Priority 1 applicants submitted approximately $4.64 billion in cost estimates that were deemed reasonable and supported, Inside Towers reported.
Recipients for whom the bureau has approved distributions of reimbursement funds now have deadlines to remove all Huawei and ZTE communications equipment and services ranging from September 29, 2023 to June 30, 2024, based on the initial fund distribution to the recipient. Removal, replacement, and disposal deadlines will continue to be set on an application-specific basis.
In May, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel explained that the Commission has made Rip & Replace one of its top priorities, but is hampered because demand “significantly exceeds” the $1.9 billion appropriation that funds the program by some $3 billion, Inside Towers reported. Because of the shortfall, the FCC had to pro-rate payments so each approved applicant received almost 40 percent of what they asked for. Congress has yet to appropriate the additional money.
The Commission reminded those seeking reimbursement they must file at least one claim by today, July 17. Failure to meet this obligation will “result in the recipient’s allocated funding being reclaimed,” says the FCC in its status report.
Recipients must file a status report on the removal, replacement and disposal of Huawei and ZTE network equipment with the agency every 90 days. The latest deadline was July 10.
The bureau estimates that 13 percent of recipients have completed the work for all affected gear in their networks. This is a 10 percent increase from the previous reports in April and January of this year.
About 85 percent of recipients have made some progress, the bureau estimates. However, recipients still face four main challenges to completing the work: lack of funding; supply chain delays; labor shortages; and weather-related challenges.
Roughly 39 percent of recipients indicated in their third status updates that lack of funding continues to be an obstacle to completing the work, says the FCC.
Approximately 1 percent indicated in their latest status updates that they “will not start work” until “unless they receive additional funding.”
The next report to Congress is due in January 2024.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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