Rosenworcel Seeks Support for AWS-3 Auction Procedures

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6, 2025 – The head of the Federal Communications Commission circulated Monday a proposal that would pave the way for the agency to bring in billions through a spectrum auction to get Chinese gear out of rural networks.

The auction, limited to the AWS-3 band used by mobile carriers, will be used to fund the agency’s Rip and Replace program, as it’s known. The effort to get aging and potentially insecure network gear from blacklisted Chinese firms out of rural networks was underfunded by about $3 billion in 2021.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and industry groups had been pushing lawmakers hard to come up with the rest of that money, as the prorated support has made for slow going and pushed deadlines. They likely got a tailwind when news of the Salt Typhoon hack broke and China-backed hackers were found to have infiltrated the major American telecom carriers.