Proposed US Senate bill would hand $700M to rural telecoms to avoid Huawei & ZTE

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators have proposed a bill that would hand $700 million in grants to rural telecom providers to cover the cost of stripping Huawei and ZTE gear from their networks.

Those networks would also be blocked from using Huawei or ZTE equipment for 5G infrastructure, Reuters reported. The bill is being sponsored by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA), and Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS). Warner is the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, while Wicker is chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee.

The proposed sum may not be enough to offset the expense of swapping out Huawei and ZTE gear. The Rural Wireless Association claims that while just 25% of its members might be affected, their costs could run between $800 million and $1 billion.

The Trump administration was been concerned about Huawei and ZTE's links with the Chinese government, arguing they could lead to backdoors into U.S. networks. State-backed hackers regularly probe U.S. companies and government agencies.

Along those lines the White House has not only blocked government agencies from doing business with the firms, but recently banned private companies from buying their telecoms equipment, and stopped Huawei from buying components from American sources. The latter restrictions were eased on Monday, but only temporarily.

ZTE was fined over $1 billion in March 2017 for violating sanctions on selling parts to Iran and North Korea. In April 2018, the Federal Communications Commission blocked ZTE's access to parts and software.

Huawei and the Chinese government been vocal in protesting recent actions, suggesting that the White House is wielding national security as a pretense for suppressing a major competitor to American companies in the context of a wider trade war. Indeed Huawei is the leading smartphone vendor in China, easily dwarfing not just Apple but local rivals like Oppo and Xiaomi.

31 Comments

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mubaili 13 Years · 454 comments

About 5 years ago

this is just beyond dumb. let the capitalism work. we are a capitalism society, aren't we?

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jbdragon 10 Years · 2312 comments

I'm against this for sure. No need for the Government to hand over free money for company's to replace equipment. That's just flat out wrong. The Government is already trillions in debt, yet they can't help spending more money on things they shouldn't be.

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wood1208 10 Years · 2940 comments

mubaili said:

this is just beyond dumb. let the capitalism work. we are a capitalism society, aren't we?

Capitalism only works fairly when everyone follows the same fair rules. Chinese government has subsidized(and helped hack,steal,copy,etc) Huawei/ZTE to the point where they can undercut others to sell product cheaply,. That is one kind of unfair dumping to capture the market.
We are no more companies compete against each other on there merits but Government getting involved to help them create edge in global market. So, be careful before having narrow focus on capitalism, competition brings lower prices for consumers. Yes, initially lower prices but in process you loose lots of jobs and economy of your country.

tmay 11 Years · 6456 comments

jbdragon said:

I'm against this for sure. No need for the Government to hand over free money for company's to replace equipment. That's just flat out wrong. The Government is already trillions in debt, yet they can't help spending more money on things they shouldn't be.

Since the U.S. is forcing those small rural carriers to replace existing Huawei equipment for National Security reasons, then it falls on the Federal government to fund it, which it appears will happen.

Seems fair.

LordeHawk 7 Years · 168 comments

Nothing unites a country like a common enemy...

Side request Apple Insiders, can you please block web traffic from China? I can’t speak for everyone, but their posts are obnoxious and fanatical. We didn’t go to their forum, they came here, creating unproductive geopolitical discourse.

The USA is far from perfect, but we all get a voice in the process. We can speak our minds, share opinions, and join a movement, all without fear.

They don’t get to lecture us after passing on the greatest IP ever, freedom and Liberty.