House E&C Republicans: Vive La Huawei Phase Out!

The House Energy & Commerce Committee Republican leaders are applauding the decision by France to phase Chinese telecom Huawei out of its networks. 

That follows the decision by the UK a couple of weeks ago to do the same. The U.S. has been working on scrubbing Huawei out of its networks as a national security threat and has been urging others to do the same.  

Related: UK Bans Huawei from 5G Network

“The decision by France to phase out Huawei from its networks is welcome news," they said. "We look forward to working with our allies on our other shared security goals." 

The "they" are E&C ranking member Greg Walden (R-Ore.), Communications Subcommittee ranking member Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Consumer Protection Subcommittee ranking member Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee ranking member Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.). 

 Related: FCC Continues Crackdown on Suspect Tech 

“China will do whatever it takes to dominate the world’s economy and suppress human rights," they said in a joint statement. "Freedom-loving nations must work together to protect our communications networks from foreign infiltration, secure our supply chains, and ensure leadership in emerging and wireless technologies. We are committed to working with our allies who share our values and interests to demonstrate to our adversaries that there will be consequences for intellectual property theft and other bad behaviors." 

Last month, the FCC officially designated Huawei a national security threat and said no carrier can get Universal Service Fund broadband buildout money if it uses Huawei tech. 

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.