WASHINGTON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - The Federal

Communications Commission voted on Thursday to advance a

wireless spectrum auction to provide nearly $3.1 billion for

U.S. telecom companies to remove equipment made by Chinese

telecoms firms Huawei and ZTE (Shenzhen:000063) from American wireless

networks because of security concerns.

Congress approved the funding and authorized a one-time spectrum

auction by the FCC for advanced 5G-grade wireless spectrum in

the band known as AWS-3 to help meet rising spectrum demands of

wireless consumers. "Failing to close that funding gap would

have left America's networks needlessly exposed to security

risks," FCC Chair Brendan Carr said.

In 2014, the FCC auctioned AWS-3 spectrum licenses for

commercial use, but some winning bidders defaulted on their

payment obligations and about 200 licenses were returned to the

FCC's inventory.

The agency must auction the licenses by June 2026.

It previously estimated removing the Chinese equipment would

cost $4.98 billion, but Congress had only approved $1.9 billion

for the "rip-and-replace" program until it approved the auction.

Washington has aggressively urged U.S. allies to purge

Huawei and other Chinese gear from their wireless networks.

Then-FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel last year said a lack of

funding could result in the shutdown of some rural networks,

which "could eliminate the only provider in some regions" and

threaten 911 service.

In 2019, Congress told the FCC to require U.S. telecoms

carriers that receive federal subsidies to purge their networks

of Chinese telecoms equipment.

Separately, the FCC voted to explore potentially auctioning

additional mid-band spectrum in the Upper C-band and seek

comments on whether and how it should auction additional

spectrum.

A fight over the previous C-band auction led to a

confrontation between U.S. airlines and

wireless companies in early 2022

. Last week, telecom and airline officials met to discuss

the FCC proceeding and are working to reach an agreement on any

additional spectrum auction and ensuring airplane altimeters are

not impacted.

The FCC last auctioned spectrum in 2022. In 2023 it lost the

broad authority from Congress for wireless sales.