UPDATE The FCC Wireline Competition Bureau granted two more carriers — Point Broadband Fiber Holding, LLC and SI Wireless, LLC – extensions to complete their work to remove, dispose of and replace untrusted gear from Huawei and ZTE from their networks. Normally, the program known as Rip & Replace gives small, rural wireless carriers one year to complete the work that they are reimbursed for.
In this case, the bureau granted the carriers’ requests for more time. Their deadlines were moved from October 29 of this year to April 29 of next year.
As directed by the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, the Commission established Rip & Replace to reimburse providers of advanced communications services with 10 million or fewer customers for reasonable costs incurred. To qualify, providers must have purchased the gear before June 30, 2020. Congress appropriated $1.9 billion for the program, which is short of the $5.6 billion needed. Because of the shortfall, the FCC had to pay applicants with 2 million or fewer customers about 40 cents on the dollar.
Point Broadband told the agency its progress has been delayed by the funding shortfall, labor shortages, time needed to coordinate its work with customers and other third-parties and a lack of equipment space. The carrier said the lack of funding may force it to slow its project schedule. Point Broadband also contends that its progress has been delayed due to a lack of available contractors and “internal resources” to perform needed work, including data contractors to perform migration work.
SI Wireless, too, cited a lack of funding for project delays, saying it had to “revise” its planned network compared to its originally intended scope of work. “According to SI Wireless, this revision resulted in it receiving ‘no payments for 5 months’ from the Reimbursement Program, rendering it ‘unable to pay [its] vendors on a timely basis for the work they had performed or [have them] continue working,’” noted the FCC. “SI Wireless states that it was required to pursue the modification to its plans due to ‘the shortfall in funding for the overall program,’ which it contends was beyond its control and over which it bears no fault,” said the bureau.
The company told the bureau it has tried to expedite work and mitigate issues related to the funding shortfall, including by using “outside financing” to keep vendors working on the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered equipment while it sought reimbursement for its expenses. SI Wireless also claims it has now sourced equipment, but delays mean it is unable to comply with its originally assigned term.
The bureau determined the delays experienced by the carriers and the funding shortfall are not their fault. That’s why it granted their extension requests. Inside Towers reported the FCC previously granted six extension requests for similar reasons.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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