FCC Grants 26 Rip and Replace Extensions
The agency also released its list of approved AWS-3 bidders.
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2026 – Slightly more than two dozen telecom companies just got more time to strip China-linked gear from their network.
The Federal Communications Commission granted Friday 26 companies’ requests for more time to complete work under its Rip and Replace program, which reimburses smaller carriers for the cost of replacing Huawei and ZTE equipment.
Providers including Point Broadband, Hotwire Communications, Advantage Cellular, and others will avoid a May 8 deadline amid supply chain disruptions and permitting delays, among other extenuating circumstances.
The program was stood up in 2022 after lawmakers deemed the targeted companies national security threats. It faced a $3 billion funding shortfall, which led to reduced payments to participants and repeated delays until Congress provided the necessary cash in late 2024.
As of the FCC’s most recent update to Congress in December, 13 of the 126 participants had started the closeout process. The initiation of full payments last year created a May 8, 2026, deadline for the removal work to be done, the FCC reminded participants recently.
The agency said in its order it didn’t plan on issuing any more extensions. Companies received varying amounts of extra time, up to six months
“We anticipate that recipients will be able to complete their [removal, replacement, and disposal] work by the end of their respective terms and that no further extensions will be necessary,” the agency wrote.
Half of the 26 companies whose extensions were granted Friday cited continued supply chain issues as the reason they needed more time. Another seven said permitting issues were getting in the way, three pointed to weather-related delays, and the remaining four were split between difficulty getting consumers’ consent to access their homes and reimbursement holds placed by the agency while it conducted audits.
The companies said everything from steel, antennas, routers, and other equipment to software and disposal services were taking much longer than expected. On the permitting front, reviews associated with work on federal and Tribal lands were repeatedly cited as taking longer than anticipated.
One operator found a migratory bird nest on one of their poles that needed to be relocated, and another in Alaska had to have materials delivered to a nearby area by barge and then flown by helicopter to construction sites because of a lack of road access.
The FCC borrowed the money to shore up Rip and Replace’s $3 billion shortfall from the Treasury. Congress authorized the move in late 2025, and directed the FCC to pay the money back with proceeds from re-auctioning AWS-3 wireless licenses that had been retired by EchoStar - the agency’s general auction authority had lapsed at the time, and AWS-3 was cleared as a one-off.
The FCC on Friday announced the list of 17 approved bidders for that auction, which is set for June 6. Authorized bidders included SpaceX and the three major wireless carriers. AST Telecom, one of the Rip and Replace extension recipients, is also a bidder.
SpaceX is purchasing unpaired AWS-3 uplink spectrum from EchoStar for direct-to-cell use, and the two uplink licenses up for grabs in the auction could help the satellite company fill out that portfolio.
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