The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to ban new Huawei and ZTE device sales in the U.S., the first time the regulator has banned equipment on the basis of national security, according to various reports.
The FCC, with the support of Congress, has already cut any broadband subsidy funding to ZTE and Huawei network equipment, which it has concluded is a threat to national and network security. With the backstop of federal legislation, the FCC also requires any so-subsidized networks to rip and replace any of that suspect tech they have been using.
The issue is the conclusion that those companies have too-close ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
Also: Telecom Nets Seek $5 Billion-Plus to Rip and Replace
Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a former top communications tech executive, buttressed that reporting with a statement Thursday (Oct. 13) billed as a response to “the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) decision to ban new sales of Chinese-based Huawei and ZTE technologies on the bases of national security.”
A spokesperson said the senator’s response was to the widespread reporting, combined with the fact that the law requires the FCC to vote on such a ban before the end of the year.
Also: Huawei Says FCC Ban Could Be Unconstitutional
Warner, who has long warned of the dangers of using tech from those Chinese companies, said he was glad the FCC “finally took that step” and pointed out that a bipartisan group of senators has been calling out the threat from Huawei and ZTE for several years, including passing the Secure and Trusted Networks Act of 2019, which incentivized the FCC rip and replace program, and which Warner co-authored.
The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act required the FCC to identify tech companies — and their subsidiaries and affiliates — whose products and/or services posed a national security threat and reimburse them for removing that suspect tech. ■
