Huawei Appeals Against FCC Ban

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. has filed an appeal against the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s decision to bar rural carriers benefiting from its Universal Service Fund to use Huawei equipment.

What Happened

The Chinese telecom giant filed a “petition for review” in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana late Wednesday, CNBC reported.

Huawei argued that the FCC overreached its “statutory authority” in violation of the U.S. constitution, several federal and other laws in declaring the ban.

“This is our opportunity to use one of the legally permissible mechanisms to try to block the [U.S.] government from the carpet bombing of Huawei in the [U.S.] and trying to destroy us around the world,” Huawei’s U.S. chief security officer Andy Purdy told CNBC.

The FCC declared Huawei and another Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corporation as “national security threats” in November. 

The federal agency asked all rural carriers benefiting from the $8.5 billion USF funds to replace Huawei and ZTE equipment with locally made products.

The ban was enforced with a unanimous vote less than a month after the agency’s Chairman Ajit Pai proposed.

The FCC enforced the ban in spite of the Department of Commerce granting Huawei another three months extension on its temporary general license allowing the U.S. companies to import its products.