CCA: Smaller carriers ‘hitting that wall’ on replacing Huawei gear

It may seem as though the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA) has been talking about the lack of adequate Rip and Replace funding for years—and it has been. But now things are really starting to hit the fan. Congress created the Rip and Replace program in 2020 to get Chinese components out of US wireless networks, but the funding fell $3 billion short of what’s needed to finish the job. Some parts of US rural networks still have significant amounts of Huawei and/or ZTE gear in their systems—including in networks near military bases and national labs. Some carriers likely will be forced to shut down if more funding is not provided. For others, their footprints will look starkly different—and smaller. There is hope for a resolution in the sense that proposals are being teed up in Washington, DC. In March Sen Steve Daines (R-MT) introduced the Supporting National Security with Spectrum Act to fully fund the Rip and Replace program.