Regional wireless service provider SI Wireless has given Telecompetitor early access to what it says is a status update filing on participation in the Secure and Trusted Communications Reimbursement (SCRP) Program.
The $1.9 billion “Rip and Replace” program aims to reimburse providers with ten million or fewer customers for expenses incurred for the removal, replacement and disposal of equipment manufactured by Huawei or ZTE. Those vendors were found by Congress to be pose security risks.
SI Wireless’ document is scathing. It paints a portrait of a company complying with the Rip and Replace program rules — as set by the FCC — and the commission not keeping its end of the bargain.
Two examples:
“SI Wireless participated in this program with the understanding that dismantling their fully functional 204-site network serving rural communities in Western Tennessee and Kentucky to protect national security would be followed by timely reimbursements for the replacement network as per the program guidelines. While SI Wireless has fulfilled its part by removing this potential national security threat, the administrative execution of the program has been lacking.”
and
“SI Wireless is awaiting approval for reimbursement of over 258 invoices totaling nearly $15 million, with an average invoice age of 189 days. Some invoices have been pending approval for over 628 days, while 145 invoices are still in ‘Submitted’ status without an initial review, the oldest pending for over a year… SI Wireless has had to take out loans to cover expenses, accruing non-reimbursable interest due to the delay in reimbursements.”
The document says that the Fund Administrator, Ernst and Young, “appears to have a conflicting interest, with no incentive to quickly process invoices as they are paid hourly. This results in excessive back-and-forth over minor discrepancies, serial RFIs, and extensive delays in reimbursement.”
The SI Wireless document ends with 12 action item requests.
Last week, the FCC reported that 40% of wireless carriers involved in Rip and Replace program will be unable to complete their work without more funding. In May, an effort to add more than $3 billion to the Rip and Replace program as well as fund the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP) failed in the Senate.
The FCC declined to comment on this story, and Ernst & Young did not return a message to its media affairs department.
