US Plans $700 Million Grant For Telecoms To Replace Huawei Equipment

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced legislation on Wednesday to provide about $700 million in grants to help US telecommunications providers with the cost of removing Huawei equipment from their networks.

The bill also moves to block the use of equipment or services from Chinese telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE in next-generation 5G networks, according to a statement by the senators.

The United States has accused ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd of working for the Chinese government and has expressed concern their equipment could be used to spy on Americans, allegations the Chinese government and the companies say are baseless.

“With so much at stake, our communications infrastructure must be protected from threats posed by foreign governments and companies like Huawei,” Tom Cotton, a Republican senator co-sponsoring the bill, said in a statement.

Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, and Roger Wicker, Democratic chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, are also backing the bill.