• FCC granted Copper Valley, Country Wireless, NfinityLink and Velocity more time to complete Huawei and ZTE equipment removal
  • Delays now centre on crews, shipping, backup power and ransomware rather than programme funding

The fact

The Federal Communications Commission has granted four more carriers additional time to complete work under its Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program, commonly known as rip-and-replace. Copper Valley Wireless, Country Wireless, NfinityLink Communications and Velocity Communications received extensions ranging from two to six months.

The reasons differ by operator. Country Wireless said the certified crew scheduled to work on five remaining tower sites withdrew, leaving it waiting for a replacement. Copper Valley cited shipping difficulties in Alaska affecting two remaining packet data network gateways. NfinityLink reported delays involving generators and backup-power equipment as well as a ransomware attack that set its programme back by six weeks. Velocity said cells-on-wheels needed for part of its replacement network were in short supply.

The extensions come after the programme's earlier funding gap was addressed. The FCC borrowed $3.08bn from the US Treasury in March 2025 and has since repaid that loan using proceeds from the AWS-3 spectrum auction.

The assessment

The latest extensions show what happens when a network-replacement programme moves beyond its financing problem. Once carriers had access to the additional funding, completion still depended on certified tower crews, equipment arriving at remote sites, backup power and working internal systems.

Those constraints cannot all be solved by increasing the programme budget. A delayed gateway can hold up a core-network cutover, while the absence of an approved tower crew can leave replacement equipment waiting on the ground. NfinityLink's ransomware incident adds another dependency: disruption to the carrier itself can delay work intended to reduce a separate network-security risk.

For BTW readers, funding is no longer enough to judge whether rip-and-replace is nearing completion. The remaining schedules depend increasingly on whether individual carriers can turn funded equipment into installed, tested and operational replacement networks.

What to watch

Watch the next FCC status updates for how many recipients still have unfinished removal and replacement work and whether the four carriers meet their new deadlines. Further extension requests would show whether labour and supply constraints remain widespread. NfinityLink's progress will also indicate how quickly a small carrier can recover a major infrastructure programme after a ransomware disruption.