FCC proposes rules to reassess foreign-owned US telecom services authority (updated)

China Mobile

29/03/2023 22:54

(Adds details from FCC)
    By David Shepardson
       WASHINGTON, March 29 (Reuters) - The head of the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) on Wednesday proposed new rules
to periodically reassess existing authorizations for
foreign-owned companies to provide telecommunications services
in the United States.
    The U.S. telecommunications regulator has raised mounting
concerns about Chinese telecom companies in recent years which
had won permission to operate in the United States decades ago.
In 2019, the FCC voted to deny state-owned Chinese telecom firm
China Mobile Ltd  0941.HK  the right to provide U.S. services
and later withdrew U.S. authorizations for several other Chinese
telecom carriers including China Telecom Corp  0728.HK . 
    FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said that if finalized, the
reviews "would involve close consultation" with national
security colleagues. The FCC will vote on the proposed rules,
which would require foreign-owned license holders "to undergo a
periodic review and renewal process," at its April meeting.  
    Rosenworcel said: "It is so important to have the agency
regularly review foreign companies’ authorizations to provide 
telecommunications services in the United States."
    In December, a federal appeals court rejected China
Telecom's challenge to the FCC order withdrawing the company's
authority to provide services in the United States.
    In November, the FCC banned agency approvals of new
telecommunications equipment from China's Huawei Technologies
and ZTE  000063.SZ  because they pose "an unacceptable risk" to
U.S. national security.
    China Telecom, which had been authorized for 20 years to
provide U.S. telecommunications services, had more than 335
million subscribers worldwide in 2019 and has provided services
to Chinese government facilities in the United States, according
to FCC filings.
    The FCC in January 2022 voted to revoke the authorization
for China Unicom's  0762.HK  U.S. unit to operate in the United
States, citing national security concerns.

 (Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington
Editing by Franklin Paul and Matthew Lewis)
 ((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))