Security News > 2021 > October > US bans China Telecom Americas over national security risks
China Telecom Americas is the largest foreign subsidiary of China Telecom Corporation, China's state-owned telecom company.
"Indeed, the FCC's own review found that China Telecom Americas poses significant national security concerns due to its control and ownership by the Chinese government, including its susceptibility to complying with communist China's intelligence and cybersecurity laws that are contrary to the interests of the United States."
Today, the FCC voted to revoke China Telecom America's Section 214 authority to operate in the U.S. based on national security risks.
The decision was taken after six U.S. Executive Branch agencies asked the FCC to ban China Telecom Americas in April 2020 from operating in the U.S. over significant cybersecurity risks.
The U.S. agencies said at the time that China Telecom's U.S. operations provide an opening for Chinese state-backed threat actors to engage in espionage which would allow them to steal trade secrets and other confidential business info, as well as to disrupt and misroute U.S. communications traffic via BGP hijacking [1, 2]. Last year, the U.S. President also established an interagency committee by Executive Order to advise the FCC "On national security and law enforcement concerns related to certain license applications by companies under foreign ownership or control."
One year earlier, in May 2019, the FCC blocked China Mobile, another Chinese telecom giant, from providing international telecom services over U.S. networks.
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