Senate Bill Would Boost Network Rip-and-Replace Eligibility

By John Eggerton, Multichannel News, 11-16-20

The Senate Commerce Committee is marking up a bill this week (Nov. 18) that would expand the number of broadband suppliers eligible for $1 billion in funding to rip-and-replace suspect tech, like that of Huawei and ZTE.

The bill, S. 4472, the Ensuring Network Security Act, amends that rip-and-replace program, the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019, by upping the threshold for companies eligible for the money from those with 2 million or fewer subs to those with 10 million or fewer, and by expanding eligibility to eligible telecommunications carriers (ETCs).

The bill also expands the fund to include non-commercial educational institutions with their own facilities-based broadband services. » Read More