The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) plans to consider at its July 13th open meeting an order that would amend rules for a program that seeks to reimburse telecommunications carriers for removing and replacing equipment and services that pose risks to national security.
FCC established rules for the reimbursement program in compliance with the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019 and FCC said Tuesday that the latest order would raise the customer eligibility cap for participation in the program.
The amended rules would allow communications services providers with 10 million or fewer customers to take part in the reimbursement program.
The document seeks to modify eligibility rules for communications equipment and services manufactured or provided by Huawei or ZTE and allow telecommunications providers to use reimbursement funds for equipment and services purchased, leased or obtained on or before June 30, 2020.
The order would implement the prioritization scheme stipulated in the Consolidated Appropriations Act if the demand for reimbursement funding exceeds the congressional appropriations of $1.89 billion.
The commission adds a definition of “provider of advanced communications services” to existing reimbursement program rules and offers some clarifications to some requirements of the reimbursement program through the document.
