US regulator to bar China’s Huawei, ZTE from government subsidy program

The United States (US) telecommunications regulator plans to vote in November to designate China’s Huawei and ZTE as national security risks, barring their US rural carrier customers from tapping an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase equipment or services.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also plans to propose requiring those carriers to remove and replace equipment from such designated companies, FCC officials said on Monday.

At a meeting scheduled for November 19, the FCC said it plans to vote to ask carriers how much it would cost to remove and replace Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp from existing networks and to establish a reimbursement program to offset the costs of removing the equipment.