US FCC Confirms $2 Billion Support for Huawei Ban

"Will Eradicate Equipment Undermining National Security"

Jessica Rosenworcel Acting Chairperson (Photo by CNBC)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] The U.S. government has confirmed it will invest $1.9 billion (approximately 2.1 trillion KRW) to remove Chinese telecommunications equipment, including Huawei, installed within the country. This decision is based on the assessment that Chinese telecom companies pose a national security threat, and it is expected to accelerate the 'Huawei removal' efforts in the U.S.

According to major foreign media on the 13th (local time), the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) unanimously passed a compensation program to cover the costs incurred by American telecom companies in removing and replacing equipment from Chinese telecom providers.

This compensation program is designed to subsidize small and medium-sized telecom companies in the U.S. for the costs of removing and replacing equipment from Chinese providers such as Huawei and Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment Corporation (ZTE). The scope of compensation was finalized to include companies with fewer than 10 million customers. Huawei and ZTE equipment are known to be used by small and medium-sized telecom companies in small U.S. cities.

Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel stated, "These devices pose serious risks as they can be manipulated, disrupted, or controlled by foreign entities," adding, "We will evaluate networks, base stations, and routers until equipment that could undermine national security is eradicated. This will not be an easy task."

The U.S. government has long claimed that equipment from Chinese telecom providers such as Huawei and ZTE threatens national security. It has been determined that these devices contain 'backdoors'?artificially created information leakage channels?that secretly extract information from U.S. users.

Accordingly, in June, the FCC designated Huawei and ZTE as 'companies that threaten national security.' The FCC required U.S. telecom operators to remove or replace Chinese telecom equipment and has now finalized the related budget.

With their designation as security threat companies to the U.S., American telecom companies are no longer allowed to use government subsidies totaling $8.3 billion to purchase equipment from these providers.

In March, the FCC designated five Chinese companies?including Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, and Dahua?as national security threat companies.

Last month, the FCC passed a proposal banning approval of equipment from these Chinese companies and allowing for the revocation of existing approvals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.