US Strengthens National Security Controls; FCC Proposes Banning Chinese Telecoms from Establishing Data Centers in US

Reuters reported that the FCC stated it has preliminarily determined that U.S. and other telecom operators operating in the U.S. should be prohibited from interconnecting with companies identified as posing national security concerns and listed on the so-called "Covered List," including China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom. The FCC also stated that they are considering prohibiting Chinese telecom operators that own data centers or so-called "Points of Presence" (PoP) located at Internet Exchange Points (IXP) from interconnecting with other companies. The FCC is also considering expanding the ban to prohibit providing U.S. telecom services to affiliates of companies on the national security list. In addition, the FCC may also prohibit telecom operators from interconnecting with companies that install equipment from national security listed companies, including equipment manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE. The FCC plans to hold a preliminary vote on this proposal at its April 30 meeting. The Chinese Embassy in the U.S. responded by stating that China "consistently opposes the generalization of national security concepts and the abuse of state power to suppress Chinese enterprises." In recent years, the FCC has continued to increase restrictions on Beijing. On October 15 last year, the FCC stated that based on national security considerations, it was pushing to revoke Hong Kong Telecom (HKT)'s operating qualification in the U.S.; in December last year, the FCC stated that it might prohibit China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom from connecting to U.S. networks to prevent robocalls. Prior to this, the FCC had already banned the three aforementioned companies from operating in the U.S., including rejecting China Mobile's application to provide U.S. telecom services in 2019, revoking the operating authorizations of China Unicom, Pacific Networks, and its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet in 2021, and revoking the operating authorization of China Telecom Americas in 2022. The FCC pointed out yesterday that on April 30, it will vote on another proposal to ban all Chinese laboratories from testing electronic equipment for use in the U.S., including smartphones, cameras, and computers, further expanding restrictions on China. In December last year, the FCC banned the import of all new Chinese drones; in March this year, it banned the import of new Chinese-made consumer routers. (Compiled by Hsu Rui-cheng) 1150410