Huawei, ZTE’s new equipment purchases could be banned by US FCC

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission is reportedly set to ban the approval for the purchase of equipment from Huawei and ZTE Chinese tech companies. The American government is said to be expanding its crackdown against entities that are seen as national security risks from China.

As per CNN Business, it was indicated in the draft order by the FCC that the restrictions will also include sales of video surveillance equipment by three other Chinese firms, namely, Dahua, Hikvision, and Hytera. Then again, it was clarified that the ban is only applicable to new products of companies that have not yet secured FCC equipment authorization.

An official of the FCC confirmed to CNN that there was indeed a proposal for the ban, and if approved, the document will be the basis to update the agency’s rules related to its list of suppliers or companies that are deemed to be unacceptable due to national security risks. It will also be included in the congressional mandate under the Secure Equipment Act of 2021.

Moreover, the proposed restriction will go beyond the measures that FCC already took against Huawei and ZTE. Those steps were previously taken by the agency after US officials said that the companies’ networking equipment could be utilized to monitor or intercept communications in the U.S.

The commission also prohibited all local telecom firms from using federal funding to buy ZTE and Huawei products. The restriction for product purchase also extends to other firms on FCC’s “covered list.”

Since many firms were already using Huawei and ZTE-branded gear, the FCC launched a program to help them “rip and replace” the equipment from their networks. The estimated cost for the scheme was said to have ballooned to $5.6 billion. This amount was far from the initial estimation of just about $2 billion.

In any case, the leading wireless telecom service providers in the U.S. said they do not use equipment that were made in China. Experts in the telecom industry said that small network providers are most likely the main users of such Chinese products as they want to cut back on costs.

Finally, Reuters reported that it was FCC’s chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, who sent the proposed ban to three commissioners last week. The documents were disseminated for final approval. Once signed, companies will not be able to sell new equipment in the country without proper authorizations.