FCC hints at ban on leading Chinese telecom companies from operating in US

Washington DC [US] April 13 (ANI): The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has indicated it may ban three leading Chinese telecom companies from operating data centres in the United States as part of a broader move to counter Beijing, according to a report by The Epoch Times (TET).

In a public notice issued on April 9, the FCC identified Chinese-linked telecom firms as a significant national security concern. The agency stated that it has "tentatively" determined it should prohibit U.S. and other telecom carriers operating in the country from interconnecting with entities listed on the "Covered List," including major state-backed Chinese operators China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. These companies have already faced restrictions or had their licences revoked in the United States in recent years.

The FCC also said it is considering banning interconnections with any facilities, such as Points of Presence (PoPs) and data centres, owned or operated by entities on the Covered List. According to CloudDNS, a PoP is a physical access point that links networks, allowing efficient data exchange. The agency added that it may extend the restrictions to certain affiliates of listed companies. Additionally, the FCC is examining whether to bar telecom carriers from connecting with firms that use equipment from listed entities, including Huawei, as cited in the TET report.

The proposal is scheduled for a vote during the FCC's April 30 meeting. Separately, on April 8, the FCC said it is also seeking to prohibit all Chinese laboratories from testing electronic devices, such as smartphones, cameras, and computers, for use in the United States. Last year, it banned testing of U.S. electronics by labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government, resulting in 23 labs being restricted.

The FCC noted that around 75 percent of all electronics are tested in laboratories based in China. It also prohibited all imports of foreign-made commercial routers in March. This move followed a March 20 report by an executive branch interagency body with national security expertise, which concluded that commercial routers, devices used in homes to connect computers, phones, and other smart devices to the internet, posed an unacceptable risk to the United States, the TET report added. (ANI)

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