The Department of Commerce has given U.S. firms more time to cut all connections between their information technology infrastructures and Huawei, Nextgov reported Monday. The department changed the original Aug. 19 deadline to Nov. 19 due to the dependence of some rural companies on the Chinese technology firm.
“Some of the rural companies are dependent on Huawei, so we’re giving them a little more time to wean themselves off,†Wilbur Ross, secretary of commerce, said in an interview with Fox Business. Huawei may still provide updates and patches for linked devices during the extension.
The Chinese company’s ban stems from the intelligence community’s notion that Huawei is involved in espionage against the U.S.
