5 Takeaways on the FCC’s Rip and Replace Program
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released a statement that 181 telecom providers submitted applications to its Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program. This program was established to cover the costs of removing, replacing, and disposing of insecure equipment and services in US networks. Reimbursement requests totaled some $5.6 billion, almost three times the $1.9 billion budgeted.
The number of applicants, 181, is small compared to all US operators, some 5500. The 181 applicants largely reflect small providers in discrete locations. Indeed, many of these companies would not be considered traditional telecom operators. For example, one large applicant is Level 3 Communications, now part of CenturyLink/Lumen. There are many smaller operators, schools, universities, and inflight broadband provider Gogo Business… Read More