Many carriers that serve rural areas use relatively inexpensive ZTE and Huawei equipment. After the FCC started collecting data about that in February, more than 50 carriers have told the agency they or their subsidiaries have tech from those companies in their networks.

However, it might be prohibitively expensive for them to tear all of that out and install equipment and services from other suppliers. The CEO of a small carrier in Oregon told The Verge in June that it could cost $1.5 million to replace Huawei equipment it bought for $500,000 in the first place — a price he might not be able to cover before he receives a reimbursement from the government.

A federal process to reimburse carriers for the cost of replacing such tech was established through the Secure and Trusted Communications Act, which President Trump signed into law in March. The legislation required telecoms to replace “suspect foreign network equipment.” In other words, Huawei and ZTE tech.

Congress has yet to appropriate the reimbursement funds, however, and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has urged it to do so. “By identifying the presence of insecure equipment and services in our networks, we can now work to ensure that these networks—especially those of small and rural carriers—rely on infrastructure from trusted vendors,” he said in a statement. “I once again strongly urge Congress to appropriate funding to reimburse carriers for replacing any equipment or services determined to be a national security threat.”

Meanwhile, in May, Trump extended an executive order that effectively bans American companies from buying and using equipment from the Huawei and ZTE. That order now runs through May 2021.

ZTE has announced that it will release the first “mass-produced” smartphone with an under-display selfie camera, with the launch set for September 1st. The Axon 20 5G is expected to have a 6.92-inch OLED display, but there’ll be no notches, punch holes or other blemishes where a front camera would normally go.

So far, the most all-screen phones have used cameras that pop out of the top or side. ZTE notes that “all the major industry players” have been working on under-display cameras, but it’s apparently the first to bring one to market. We just hope that under-display tech has improved since we last saw it on an Oppo prototype, because that model showed a fair amount of hazing. The challenge is shooting through the display, which obviously isn’t completely transparent.

Huawei isn’t about to get a reprieve from the US trade ban any time soon. President Trump has extended until May 2021 the executive order barring American companies from buying and using telecom equipment that represents an “unacceptable” national security risk. The order was key to the Commerce Department adding Huawei to its Entity List and effectively banning the tech giant (along with rivals like ZTE) from operating in the country.

It’s not shocking that the order would carry on for a while longer. Trump and legislators have continued to kick Huawei out of US networks whenever possible, and tensions with China remain high. However, this still leaves Huawei and peers without many options. They’ll have to avoid dealing with US companies, of course, but this will also force them to go without Google apps on newer phones and otherwise jump through hoops to maintain some of their business. In short: don’t expect to buy a Huawei phone stateside any time soon.

The measure had bipartisan support in Congress and was expected to become law given the Trump administration’s eagerness to label Huawei a security threat.

There are lingering concerns about the severity of this claimed threat. The US has been reluctant to provide public evidence that the Chinese government has used Huawei equipment for surveillance. American officials have claimed that Huawei has secret access to carrier backdoors, but it’s not clear they were designed for that purpose or that the company has abused them. Huawei has denied misusing backdoors, and insisted that there are tight controls that put responsibility in the hands of carriers. This may help officials feel better about the security of US telecom systems, but it’s not clear there will be a practical improvement.

In 2018 the US government banned government personnel from using Huawei and ZTE devices, and a few months later, Huawei sued on the basis that such restrictions were unconstitutional. Since then, Huawei’s situation and ability to do business in the US has continued to deteriorate, and now a judge has ruled against the company. U.S. District Court judge Amos Mazzant decided that Congress does have the power to ban federal agencies from using certain companies.

According to the Wall Street Journal, in the 57-page ruling he wrote “Contracting with the federal government is a privilege, not a constitutionally guaranteed right—at least not as far as this court is aware.” Huawei is apparently considering its legal options, and said in a statement that “the approach taken by the US Government in the 2019 NDAA provides a false sense of protection while undermining Huawei’s constitutional rights.” A few days ago Huawei accused the US DOJ of “political persecution,” coming as it faces charges for allegedly stealing trade secrets, claims it can access carrier backdoors and even a patent lawsuit against (owner of Engadget’s parent company) Verizon.

Regulators brought out a familiar argument to justify the decision. They argued that Chinese firms are legally required to assist with spying and that public funds shouldn’t be used to “endanger national security” with companies that could be forced to install surveillance backdoors or spread malware. There hasn’t been public evidence of Huawei or ZTE snooping on American networks, but that didn’t matter to the FCC — it’s about the potential threat.

At the same time, the FCC officially submitted a proposal that would require USF recipients to “remove and replace” equipment from companies deemed security risks. It’s also asking for input as to how it would pay for replacements, and intends to study just how expensive it would be to pull the Chinese gear out of existing infrastructure.

In a statement to Engadget, Huawei called the order “unlawful” as it targeted the company specifically without evidence and allegedly relied on a “mistaken view” of Chinese law. It also contended that this would hurt smaller carriers that use Chinese equipment to save money, and that “all Americans will pay higher prices” as competition shrinks for 5G and other wireless tech.

The order is partly redundant when the Commerce Department has effectively blacklisted Huawei outside of certain exemptions. It also doesn’t strictly forbid networks from using their own income to buy the hardware. However, both the order makes clear that the FCC doesn’t want Chinese gear in American networks. The proposal could have significant consequences for those smaller providers, though. Even if the government pays for a large chunk of their replacement costs, it may be difficult for them to upgrade that equipment in the future without further help.

The rationale for the proposal won’t surprise you. Pai argued in an opinion piece that Chinese companies are beholden to demands from the country’s intelligence agencies, and that companies like Huawei could theoretically be forced to install backdoors or otherwise cooperate with surveillance on “sensitive” American communications. The Chairman claimed that vulnerabilities in Huawei software “confirm the risk,” although he didn’t provide any evidence that Huawei’s equipment had been used for spying.

FCC commissioners are expected to vote on the proposal in two parts at its November 19th meeting. If it went forward, it could have significant ramifications for carriers. Some providers, particularly smaller rural ones, have chosen networking hardware from Chinese providers due to lower prices. The technology can sometimes cost half as much as equivalents from Ericsson and Nokia. The FCC may have to pay hefty sums just to make the ‘safe’ equipment viable for rural telecoms, and those companies would still have to deal with lengthy replacement schedules and possible service disruptions.

The order tasked the Commerce Department with drafting enforcement plans within 150 days. All US government agencies were expected to take “all appropriate measures” to follow the order.

While the emergency declaration doesn’t mention China by name, there’s no doubt that the country is the primary target. The US government has repeatedly deterred companies and institutions from working with firms like Huawei and ZTE over surveillance fears and has accused Huawei of receiving direct funding from Chinese state security. Its charges against Huawei for alleged trade secret and sanction violations were well-timed, too. There hasn’t been public evidence of Huawei facilitating Chinese government espionage, but that hasn’t stopped US officials from applying pressure to allies like Canada and the UK.

In some ways, the order is a formality. American carriers have generally shied away from using Chinese equipment for their network upgrades, and Chinese phones are rare to non-existent in their lineups. All the same, the order is a significant move — if and when China is singled out, it would bar companies from using the country’s telecom hardware no matter how limited the actual danger might be.

Update 5/15 6:18PM ET: Sure enough, the Commerce Department has added Huawei to its Entity List, signaling that it believes the company is doing things contrary to the “national security or foreign policy interest” (including its alleged trade sanction violations). In other words, it’s going to count as an adversary under the emergency order.

Many of the phone’s specs aren’t available, although the Axon S would include 48- and 19-megapixel rear cameras, one of which would offer 5X optical zoom. You could also expect an OLED display, an under-the-screen fingerprint reader and 5G in some markets.

The Axon V you see below would go a very different direction. It would have two rear cameras in a familiar fixed position on the back, but its two front cameras would sit in a permanent outcropping on on the upper right — we hope you don’t mind asymmetry. Those who don’t mind would get “3D” front imaging, a 6.8-inch 21:9 ratio OLED screen and a larger battery occupying pace where the selfie cams would normally sit. A 5G version is believed to be in the cards.

NI didn’t say when the Axon S would ship, but it expected the Axon V to arrive in 2019. In both cases, cost may be the deciding factor. Although they both have features that suggest high prices, ZTE is known for undercutting the competition. It might have an edge if it can offer a discount versus other premium phones.