US telecoms regulator the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) told Congress on July 15 that the country still needs an extra $3 billion to effectively remove and replace equipment belonging to Chinese telecom giants such as Huawei and ZTE from its networks. An initial budget of $1.9 million was earmarked after Congress passed a law in 2019 demanding that the country’s carriers used equipment that met various security requirements, essentially barring the use of Chinese components, but those funds are now deemed insufficient. The FCC has said it will freeze government funding for any organization that fails to comply with the removal order. [Reuters]