Funding for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) initiative to remove risky Chinese-made components from the nation’s communications networks could get a needed boost following the introduction of a new measure by the House of Representatives.

After U.S. authorities expressed concern that telecommunications equipment manufactured by China-based Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation posed a national security threat, Congress directed the FCC in 2020 to establish a “rip-and-replace” program to reimburse communications providers for the cost of removing and replacing in-use equipment from the two companies.

While the reimbursement program initially allocated $1.9 billion, FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel told lawmakers in a May letter that the initiative would require a total of about $4.98 billion “to fund all reasonable and substantiated cost estimates.”

Rosenworcel added that 40 percent of participants told the agency they would not be able to complete the work without additional funding, and other providers – particularly in rural areas – have warned that the associated funding problems could lead to the closure of some or all of their networks.

In a bill introduced on August 9, Republican Representative August Pfluger of Texas proposed providing the FCC with the necessary funds while also requiring the agency to auction off certain frequency licenses that had been returned to it.

The bill would direct the Treasury Department to allocate about $3 billion to the FCC. The funds would be offset by the agency re-auctioning returned spectrum. Within a year of the bill’s enactment, the FCC would be required to “issue licenses for spectrum in the Commission’s inventory.”

The proposal is co-sponsored by Rep. Dusty Johnson, RS.D.

In a statement, Pfluger, who chairs the House Department of Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence, called the bill “vital to our national security.”

“Unless funding is forthcoming, Chinese equipment such as Huawei and ZTE will remain on our networks, including near strategically important areas such as military bases and airports,” he added. “Rural and remote areas would be hit hardest as networks could be shut down, leaving entire communities without the only mobile broadband service provider.”

In addition to communications providers using components from questionable Chinese companies, other public institutions have also purchased hardware from companies linked to Beijing.

An October 2022 report by Georgetown University’s Center for Security and Emerging Technology found that between 2015 and 2021, at least 1,681 state and local governments purchased equipment from five Chinese companies whose services have been banned by the federal government.

The House bill is a companion bill to a bill introduced in March by Senator Steve Daines (R-Montana). Both bills contain the same language.

In a statement announcing his move, Daines warned: “Rural providers must have the resources and ability to remove compromised devices, because without that ability, there is a serious risk to national security.”

Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Washington), chair of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, also introduced a bill in March that would, among other things, provide over three billion dollars to fund the FCC’s “rip-and-replace” program.

Unlike companion House and Senate proposals, Cantwell’s bill would also encourage the development of spectrum-sharing technologies and restore broadband subsidies to rural communities. However, a planned committee discussion of her bill failed in March due to partisan disagreements over some of its provisions.