Security News > 2022 > January > US bans major Chinese telecom over national security risks
The Federal Communications Commission has revoked China Unicom Americas' license, one of the world's largest mobile service providers, over "Serious national security concerns."
China Unicom Americas is the largest foreign subsidiary of China Unicom, a Chinese state-owned telecom company.
"The Order finds that China Unicom Americas, a US subsidiary of a Chinese state-owned enterprise, is subject to exploitation, influence, and control by the Chinese government and is highly likely to be forced to comply with Chinese government requests without sufficient legal procedures subject to independent judicial oversight," the FCC said.
"The Order finds that China Unicom Americas' ownership and control by the Chinese government raise significant national security and law enforcement risks by providing opportunities for China Unicom Americas, its parent entities, and the Chinese government to access, store, disrupt, and/or misroute US communications, which in turn allow them to engage in espionage and other harmful activities against the United States."
FCC's vote to revoke China Unicom America's license to operate in the US based on national security concerns comes after several other decisions to block Chinese telecom giants' services in the US. In May 2019, the FCC denied China Mobile USA's application to provide international telecommunications services in the US. Two years later, the agency revoked China Telecom Americas' license, banning it from providing telecom services within the US. The decisions were taken after US Senators Tom Cotton and Charles Schumer urged the FCC in September 2019 to review the approvals of China Telecom and China Unicom that allowed them to operate in the United States.
Six US Executive Branch agencies also asked the FCC to ban China Telecom Americas in April 2020 from operating in the country over significant cybersecurity risks.
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