Southern Ohio ISP Seeks 6-Month Extension of Rip-and-Replace Deadline

Southern Ohio Communications Services (SOCS) asked the FCC for a six-month extension of an Oct. 6 deadline to remove Huawei and ZTE components from its network under the FCC’s rip-and-replace program. SOCS “has worked diligently” to complete the removal, replacement and disposal of “covered” equipment in its network, said a filing last week in docket 18-89. However, some of its ZTE gear “has not yet been disposed of,” the ISP said: Most is in storage waiting for disposal and the only remaining component still attached to the network is a single ZTE router, SOCS said: “SOCS has purchased the replacement equipment for this item and is now waiting for the vendor to install it.”