The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said Dec. 10 that it began revoking China Telecom’s authorization to operate in the United States. At the same time, the FCC denied a request for review by Chinese telecom giant Huawei, again deeming it a “national security threat.
According to Bloomberg, Reuters and other media reports, the FCC on Thursday adopted rules to implement the Secure and Trusted Communications Network Act, which took effect in March. According to the provisions, the FCC will develop a “list of communications equipment and services that pose a risk to national security. Once the U.S. Congress appropriates funds, telecommunications carriers must remove these devices or services from their networks. These replacement equipment operators will also receive financial compensation, the FCC estimates that the compensation program will require at least $1.6 billion. Although the FCC’s statement did not mention any Chinese telecommunications facilities providers by name, Bloomberg believes the move is a further action against Huawei and ZTE.
The FCC said in September that rural U.S. telecom operators that rely on Huawei and ZTE for cheap network equipment told the government that replacing the companies’ switches and routers would cost $1.837 billion, of which about $1.62 billion would qualify for government grants. the FCC confirmed that 50 more than 50 carriers use equipment or services from Huawei and ZTE, mostly smaller companies. the FCC estimates that the average cost to replace this equipment would be between about $40 million and $45 million for each carrier.
The FCC said in a statement that protecting national security is one of the FCC’s key responsibilities, and that the move is “designed to protect the nation’s telecommunications infrastructure from potential security threats. In April, several U.S. agencies asked the FCC to withdraw its authorization of China Telecom Americas.
In addition to the two resolutions, the FCC on Thursday denied Huawei’s request for review of its classification as a “national security threat,” saying there was “overwhelming evidence” that confirmed the agencies’ previous concerns about Huawei. Huawei had previously said that the FCC had determined that Huawei posed a national security threat without evidence, which not only violated legislative due process principles, but also allegedly violated the law.
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