The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted an order to revoke the operations of the US-based subsidiary of China Telecom, claiming the company failed to refute concerns over national security.
In a statement, the FCC explained China Telecom’s US unit will lose the ability to provide domestic and international telecoms services within 60 days.
The FCC explained it acted after China Telecom Americas “failed to rebut the serious concerns” it had regarding potential security threats, asserting the business 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.
It argued such “ownership and control” raise “significant national security and law enforcement risks” and the operation of the division would give the Chinese authorities the ability to “access, store, disrupt” or misroute US communications, which could be used for espionage and “other harmful activities” against the nation.
The FCC explained it will issue guidance for customers of China Telecom Americas to switch to other operators.
It is the latest in a series of actions against operators the FCC considers to have links with the Chinese government, which earlier this year resulted in a ban against China Unicom among others.
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