Mediacom told the FCC it will meet the deadline to "rip and replace" equipment supplied by Chinese companies Huawei and ZTE by its July 15 deadline.
"To date, 100% of the program has been completed across the areas of removal and replacement, and 99% of equipment has received disposal certification," the New York-based cable operator said in a filing to the FCC Monday.
Established by Congress in 2019 to weed out Chinese telecommunications gear that could be used for espionage, the "Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act" has suffered from significant underfunding. In May, FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel sent a letter to Congress, informing lawmakers that the project has only received $1.9 billion so far, but needs closer to $5 billion to complete.
A report compiled by the FCC and sent to Congress last week said only 14 telecom companies have completed their ripping and replacing of Huawei and ZTE gear. Nine of these companies, including Mediacom, took advantage of a six-month deadline extension rendered back in January.
Rosenworcel told Congress that 40% of broadband providers can't afford to get rid of the Huawei and ZTE gear, which was deemed a national security risk in 2020.
The FCC has prioritized smaller ISPs "with 2 million or fewer customers,” which are often based in rural areas. And with these smaller companies, the FCC has been forced to prorate the funds, providing only 39.5% of the "reasonable costs" to replace the affected equipment.
For its part, Mediacom asked for $86 million to lift its end of the couch and only received $36 million, according to Policyband's Ted Hearn.
The incentive for ISPs, especially rurally situated ones, to comply is real. Failure to replace the Chinese gear would restrict ISPs from participating in the FCC's $8.1 billion Universal Service Fund subsidy program.
