HIGHLIGHTS
Only $1.9 billion was authorised by the US Congress to pay for the removal procedure.
A 2019 law requires businesses to remove unsecure equipment.
FCC provided $8.3 billion in public funds for the procurement of new equipment.
The US telecoms regulator needs an extra $3 billion (approximately Rs. 25,000) to fund the removal from U.S. networks of equipment made by Chinese telecoms giants Huawei and ZTE, raising the total cost to $4.9 billion (about Rs. 40,000), the agency informed Congress on Friday.
"To fund all reasonable and supported cost estimates..., the Reimbursement Program will require $4.98 billion, reflecting a current shortfall of $3.08 billion," Jessica Rosenworcel, the chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, said Friday in a letter to Senator Maria Cantwell, who heads the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.
Companies will only be compensated for about 40% of the costs since Congress only approved $1.9 billion (about Rs. 15,000 crore) to fund the removal procedure, she added.
Congress approved a bill in 2019 giving the FCC the authority to compel US telecom providers who receive federal subsidies to remove any potentially dangerous telecom equipment from their networks in exchange for payment.
The US corporations were forced to remove their equipment or risk being barred from a $8.3 billion (approximately Rs. 66,000 crore) government fund used to buy new equipment after the FCC classified Huawei and ZTE as risks. Congress only budgeted $1.9 billion to pay the alleged "rip and replace" effort, raising concerns about the viability of the removal program's implementation.
Rosenworcel wrote in the letter that the Commission will start processing reimbursement claims "when allocations are granted in the coming days" and that "without an extra appropriation, the Commission will use the prioritised mechanism Congress stated."
Companies are not compelled to finish the task until they have been paid.
