FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel has notified Congress that additional monies are needed to fully fund the participants of the Secure and Trusted Communications Reimbursement Program. The Reimbursement Program will reimburse eligible providers for reasonable costs associated with the removal, replacement, and disposal of covered communications equipment and services, including equipment and services produced or provided by Huawei and ZTE.
Congress had initially appropriated $1.9 billion for the Reimbursement Program. But 181 applications were filed during the Reimbursement Program filing window requesting a total of $5.6 billion. Under the FCC’s rules, if there are not enough funds to satisfy reimbursement application requests, then all participants in a certain category will receive a pro rata share of the available funding.
