Foreign media: FCC may ban three Chinese telecom companies from operating in the United States

According to Reuters, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may ban the US operations of three Chinese state-owned telecommunications companies on the grounds of national security risks.

The FCC issued so-called show cause orders to China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks Corp. and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC, asking them to explain why they object if the FCC begins proceedings to revoke their authorization to operate in the United States.

"We cannot afford to take any chances when it comes to the security of our networks and want to maximize that security," FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a statement.

On April 9, the U.S. Department of Justice and other federal agencies called on the FCC to revoke China Telecom Americas' authorization to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

The FCC voted unanimously in May 2019 to deny another Chinese state-owned telecom company, China Mobile, an application to provide services in the United States, citing concerns that the Chinese government could use the license to spy on the U.S. government. At the time, the FCC said it was “considering” licenses for China Telecom and China Unicom.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks welcomed the FCC's decision, saying in a statement: "With unprecedented growth in data usage during the current pandemic, we need to ensure the security of information more than ever." He believes this is also why the FCC currently needs to more carefully review which communications network companies can operate in the United States.