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According to Axios, the US government plans to ban the purchase of new telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE.
The two Chinese tech giants are being investigated in a growing crackdown on alleged national security threats from China.
The order
The reports come from the restrictions described in the rules proposed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
It focuses on selling CCTV equipment from three other companies: Hytera, Hikvision and Dahua.
All three companies are also Chinese.
The draft ruling states that the ban applies only to new products that have not yet received FCC approval.
An FCC official confirmed that the proposal is more than just rumors.
They also said it would update the agency’s rules regarding the list of suppliers deemed unacceptable national risks if approved.
The proposal would also meet the agency’s congressional mandate under the Secure Equipment Act of 2021.
The ban
The proposed ban on Huawei and ZTE would go beyond the FCC’s previous approaches to the companies.
According to US officials, network equipment could be used to intercept or trace US communications.
In the past, the FCC has blocked US telecom carriers from using federal funds from Huawei, ZTE and other carriers on the agency’s so-called “covered list.”
The FCC has also developed a program to help carriers remove and replace Huawei and ZTE devices from their networks.
However, the program’s estimated cost has risen to $5.6 billion, exceeding initial estimates by about $2 billion.
Many major mobile carriers in the United States have already declared that they do not use equipment made in China.
Telecoms policy experts have said Chinese-made phones are found almost exclusively on smaller networks to keep costs down.
Huawei
In 2019, the Trump administration put Huawei on the so-called list from the Commerce Department.
The list restricts experts to individuals and organizations appointed without a license from the US government.
A year later, the US government expanded the restrictions by devising a plan to remove Huawei from its suppliers using US manufacturing technology.
The policy has led to sharp drops in Huawei’s telephony and telecommunications sector, shifting the company’s focus.
From there, Huawei began developing automobiles, cloud computing, and its own mobile operating system.
Huawei’s founder and CEO previously said the company would never share data with the Chinese government.
Meanwhile, Western security experts said the country’s national security and intelligence laws require Chinese companies to comply with reporting obligations.
Reference:
FCC could ban all new purchases of Huawei and ZTE telecom gear
