The US Federal Communications Commission is moving against Chinese companies, Huawei Technologies and China Telecom. The news arrives after a series of ruling over national security ruled in favor against both companies, which allegedly have ties to the Chinese government.
In the voting, the FCC voted 5-0 and ordered telecommunications operators to remove Huawei made equipment from their systems. Similarly, the agency also asked whether to end China Telecom’s permission to operate in the US, as per a Bloomberg report. Both Huawei and China Telecom that have a very small percentage of revenue from the US have yet to respond to this matter at the moment.
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According to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, “Security agencies contend the company hasn’t complied with cybersecurity and privacy laws, and provides opportunities for Chinese state-sponsored economic espionage and disruption of U.S. communications traffic.” He further added that, “the company is owned by the Chinese government.” Back in 2019, the FCC had also barred the use of US subsidies to purchase telecom equipment from Huawei and ZTE. This decision was made over security risk, which both companies have denied.
Now, the unanimous vote in the FCC will have the agency establish a list of banned equipment, and will even setup a fund to reimburse carriers for replacing these scrutinized gear. This will start once Congress presents an estimated 1.6 billion US Dollars. As per FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr, “The record on this is clear. The Chinese government intends to surveil persons within our borders, for government security, for spying advantage, as well as for intellectual property and an industrial or business edge.”
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