Chinese telecom equipment giants Huawei and ZTE both asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to finalize its designation of them as risks to U.S. national security on Monday, according to a report from Reuters.
In a nearly 200-page filing with the FCC, Huawei said the action was "designed to implement a campaign by certain government officials, including members of Congress, to single out Huawei for burdensome and stigmatizing restrictions, put it out of business in the United States, and impugn its reputation here and around the world."
Huawei said the effort was "unlawful and misguided."
ZTE asked the FCC to take additional time to assess ZTE's enhancements in the area of U.S. export control and economic sanctions compliance and security controls in ZTE products.
ZTE added it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to implement a compliance program relating to U.S. export control compliance regulations.
The FCC voted 5-0 to initially designate Huawei and ZTE as national security risks in November, in a move that would bar their U.S. rural carrier customers from tapping an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase equipment.
The FCC proposed requiring that U.S. carriers remove and replace equipment from both Huawei and ZTE from existing networks.
The commission left the final determination to the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, which could determine not to finalize the risk designation.
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