SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
Small Internet service providers are "stunned" that the Federal Communications Commission is enforcing a ban on Huawei and ZTE network gear during the ongoing pandemic.
The FCC already voted unanimously in November 2019 to ban Huawei and ZTE equipment in projects paid for by the commission's Universal Service Fund (USF). But the ban, inspired by fears that the Chinese vendors' equipment poses national security risks, is just now coming into effect, with the FCC announcing yesterday that USF money "may no longer be used to purchase, obtain, maintain, improve, modify, or otherwise support any equipment or services produced or provided by these suppliers."
The Rural Wireless Association (RWA), a trade group that represents ISPs that serve fewer than 100,000 subscribers each, said yesterday it is "stunned by [the] FCC's decision to immediately bar use of USF funds on Huawei and ZTE equipment and services during a time when it is critical to keep rural Americans connected."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 03 2020, @02:34AM
I cared long before Trump, but boycotting China has long been difficult. It often comes down to 'buy some item made in China, buy it 'made locally' from Chinese sources (read: Chinese made label locally applied to Chinese made product) or do without. And that is before we get into crooked importers that relabel known defective Chinese products as coming from other countries. That last one only tends to come out when enough people die from it.