Windstream ripped out all of the Huawei equipment across its network, fulfilling a government mandate to remove the China-based vendor from critical U.S. infrastructure.

Windstream CTO Art Nichols in an email to SDxCentral explained that the Huawei equipment removed included wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM) optical and synchronous optical network (SONET) transport network elements. He added that gear represented “a small fraction of the company’s data transport capability – less than 1%.”

The Huawei equipment was replaced with new gear from Cisco and Infinera.

“Windstream was largely able to augment existing systems, in some cases performing node insertions to roll all the services and traffic off of the legacy Huawei elements,” Nichols wrote. “These systems are capable of supporting the legacy technologies like SONET through the use of techniques like large scale circuit emulation, enabling a much higher degree of efficiency and fiber capacity.”

The wired broadband and managed service provider inherited the Huawei equipment as part of its Earthlink acquisition that closed in 2017. The removal process was initiated in 2019, prior to when the federal government began to require its contractors to begin removing equipment from China-based vendors.

Nichols explained that Windstream hired Ciena and Fujitsu in 2020 to help with removing the equipment. The Huawei gear was disconnected from Windstream’s network last fall, with the final pieces removed from its “network shelves” this month.

Windstream’s move tapped into the U.S. government’s “rip-and-replace” program that has earmarked billions of dollars to be used to help replace existing network infrastructure from China-based vendors.

Windstream requested $41.4 million from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program and has been allocated $46.8 million for reimbursement. Nichols noted Windstream “has only received a portion of reimbursement funds so far but is in the process of applying for and receiving further reimbursement.”

He added that the company does not expect to draw down the full amount of the allocated funds, but that all of the costs associated with the move will be “fully covered by the FCC’s initial allocation.”

“Because the company began the removal and replacement process early, it found that vendors and equipment were available and cost effective,” Nichols wrote. “Windstream relied on FCC cost estimates in submitting its initial SCRP [Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Reimbursement Program] application, which were typically higher than the costs that Windstream experienced in practice.”

The FCC had previously reported America’s wireless network infrastructure included at least 24,000 pieces of Huawei or ZTE equipment spanning about 8,400 locations.

However, there remains ongoing debate over how those billions are being dispersed.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said the agency was looking to partner with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the $1.5 billion that agency received as part of the recently signed CHIPS and Science Act of 2022 to further boost the reimbursement program.

“My hope is we can align their efforts with what we have learned in our existing reimbursement program about real-world deployment and the importance of systems integration,” Rosenworcel said.

The FCC late last year released its Report and Order stating equipment from Huawei, ZTE, and a handful of China-based telecommunication vendors “post an unacceptable risk to national security.” This equipment cannot gain FCC certification, which is needed for it to be legally sold and used in the United States, and it cannot be imported or marketed under any exemption rules.

Other vendors on that list include Hytera Communications, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, and Dahua Technology.

The FCC move came on the back of the Secure Equipment Act of 2021, which was signed by President Joe Biden late last year. That act required the FCC to adopt its stringent new rules.

“The FCC is committed to protecting our national security by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use within our borders, and we are continuing that work here,” Rosenworcel noted in a statement on the new FCC order. “These new rules are an important part of our ongoing actions to protect the American people from national security threats involving telecommunications.”

The new order applies to future purchases of equipment initially listed on the Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act of 2019. That act was passed by Congress in early 2020, and followed an executive order signed by President Donald Trump and backed by the FCC in mid-2019.