WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Federal Communications Commission on Friday announced the return of $3.08 billion to the U.S. Treasury — funds borrowed in March 2025 to support the FCC’s Rip-and-Replace reimbursement program.
The Secure and Trusted Communications Networks Act established the reimbursement program to help eligible communications providers remove, replace, and dispose of covered communications equipment and services.
The quick repayment of this loan was due in part to a successful AWS-3 Spectrum auction conducted in June 2026, the FCC said.
“The FCC’s Rip-and-Replace Program supports the important work of removing insecure equipment and services from our nation’s networks, which was critical in preserving national security,” noted FCC Chairman Brendan Carr. “Betting on the success of Auction 113 was a sound investment and with $3.572 billion in winning bids, we were able to pay back this loan in full earlier than anticipated. I’m grateful for the U.S. Treasury’s support in helping us get more covered equipment off of our networks faster.”
Congress initially provided approximately $1.9 billion for the program, but approved reimbursement demand substantially exceeded available funding. Due to insufficient funding, the FCC initially allocated only about 39.5 percent of approved costs to recipients. The resulting funding gap of approximately $3.08 billion threatened the timely completion of equipment removal and replacement activities tied to national security objectives.
On December 23, 2024, the Spectrum and Secure Technology and Innovation Act was enacted, authorizing the FCC to borrow up to an additional $3.08 billion from the U.S. Treasury to carry out this effort. With this further allocation, recipients are able to move swiftly to fulfill their removal, replacement, and disposal work under the Secure Networks Act and Program rules.
