The U.S. government plans to provide up to $ 1 billion to rural U.S. wireless network operators to dispose of their Huawei equipment.
But some of these carriers are already warning that they may need more money than they initially anticipated.
“Viaero said it had already contacted three major suppliers to discuss the costs of replacing all of the equipment covered in its network,” the company wrote in a new file with the FCC. Viaero has approximately 110,000 customers in rural Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas, and has admitted to purchasing Huawei equipment. The company did not name the suppliers it contacted, but they are likely Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung. “The quotes received to date have so far been superior to the initial estimates and a supplier is unable to offer a complete end-to-end solution at this time.”
In its long file on the subject, Viaero described all of the potential expenses – and problems – involved in physically removing Huawei’s equipment from its wireless network.
“Once the engineering and design work is complete, each tower must undergo a structural analysis to ensure that the wind load and the weight of the new equipment can be added safely to the towers, without requiring modifications to the tower. Viaero noted that the existing equipment cannot be removed until the new network is fully functional and operational, which requires double equipment each turn, until this part of the network can be transferred and the new equipment be put into commercial service, “the company wrote. “Based on its preliminary analysis, which has already started, up to 10% of Viaero’s towers may need structural modifications.”
The company also said it should obtain local permits for the work, conduct appropriate radio tests, and connect the new equipment to local 911 operations.
And there are many other unknown factors involved. The company added: “Viaero also noted that in the mountains of Colorado, the tower climbing season is short and that other circumstances beyond its control may cause delays. Last year’s Nebraska floods significantly reduced the amount of time Viaero could access many of its sites for necessary repairs and upgrades. ”
As a result, the company seemed to push back the deadlines that could be imposed on its efforts: “The equipment suppliers have not made it clear to Viaero that they will be able to provide the turnkey solution for this network replacement within the time that may be imposed.
The problem is a bill on President Trump’s office that would set aside $ 1 billion to pay companies like Viaero to get rid of Huawei equipment purchased from the Chinese supplier. U.S. authorities have warned for years that Huawei’s equipment could be used to spy on the Chinese government, concerns that developed during the Trump administration and its trade war with China. Huawei denies the allegations.
And although Huawei has been largely prevented in recent years from selling additional equipment to the U.S. government or other U.S. companies, there is concern that Huawei equipment that has already been deployed in the U.S. could be used for international espionage.
To address these concerns, a group of lawmakers proposed early last year up to $ 700 million to pay US companies to snatch up their Huawei equipment and replace it with material from other “trusted” suppliers “. This legislation was in line with a similar proposal from the FCC, which specifically examines companies that used money from its Universal Service Fund (USF) to buy Huawei equipment.
But almost immediately, the government was warned that $ 700 million would not be enough. “Our analysis shows that it is conceivable that the cost of extracting and replacing prohibited equipment in rural networks is likely to exceed $ 1 billion,” wrote analysts at CoBank’s knowledge exchange division in a report last year. The company, which researches economic issues in rural areas, has estimated that there are 30 rural wireless operators in the United States – operating a total of about 10,000 sites – using Huawei equipment.
Unsurprisingly, the Rural Wireless Association (RWA), the trade association representing Viaero and other rural wireless network operators who purchased Huawei equipment, widely cited CoBank’s findings.
But based on new comments from Viaero and RWA, even $ 1 billion may not be enough.
“All users of this equipment (eg wireless operators, wired operators, schools, libraries, health care centers) should be required to remove the equipment, whether ETC or not. [eligible telecommunications carriers] or USF recipients, “wrote the RWA in a new FCC file.” Second, all parts and components, and even uncovered business equipment used in tandem with these systems, which must be removed and decommissioned, should be eligible for reimbursement. In short, all reasonable costs incurred by small network operators to complete their network transition should be fully reimbursable, without exception. ”
RWA added, hopefully: “Congress has also authorized additional funding in excess of the billion dollars, if deemed necessary.”
The FCC, for its part, recently began soliciting information from companies that have installed Huawei equipment to assess the extent of the “rip and replace” program.
– Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G and Mobile Strategies, Light Reading | @mikeddano