UPDATE The Competitive Carriers Association led a group of nine trade associations, including NATE: the Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association, and WIA, in sending a letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Appropriations Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-WA), and Appropriations Committee Vice Chair Susan Collins (R-ME). They asked that the Senate include full funding for the Rip and Replace Program in any emergency supplemental spending legislation.
President Biden has requested $3.1 billion to “[f]ully reimburse eligible communications providers for the ongoing removal of insecure equipment and software from communications infrastructure that may pose a national security threat to the United States,” the groups state in the letter. They say the money “is critical to maintaining connectivity across large areas of the country and is needed to fulfill the national security mandate that Congress created” through the FCC’s program to reimburse small, rural carriers for the removal, disposal and replacement of untrusted Huawei and ZTE gear from their networks.
“As representatives of an industry faced by these national security challenges, we urge the Committee to include this funding in emergency supplemental spending legislation,” the associations state. “The reimbursement program faces a $3.08 billion shortfall based on cost estimates from approved applications, and because demand for support exceeds current funding, the FCC has been required to prorate funds, making 39.5 percent of approved funding currently available for each program participant as they venture to complete 100 percent of their projects.”
Without full funding, the associations say millions of Americans could lose access to even basic connectivity because impacted carriers cannot complete their projects with less than 40 percent of the needed money.
The letter is similar to one the trade groups sent last week solely to the Senate Appropriations Committee, Inside Towers reported. Also signing the letter are: NTCA – The Rural Broadband Association, the Rural Wireless Association, the Telecommunications Industry Association, WTA — Advocates for Rural Broadband and the Information Technology Industry Council.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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