FCC: May Cut Off China’s Three Major Telecom Operators From Connecting to the U.S. Telephone Network

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) logo is seen before the FCC Net Neutrality hearing in Washington

[People News] The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it may prohibit three major Chinese telecommunications companies from routing calls through the U.S. telephone network, on the grounds that these companies have failed to fully comply with anti-robocall requirements and have raised national-security concerns.

According to a report by Voice of America, on Monday (December 8), the FCC issued multiple enforcement orders requiring China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom to resolve their certification issues in the Robocall Mitigation Database within two weeks. Otherwise, they may be removed from the database. If removed, U.S. intermediate carriers and voice service providers would be required to stop directly receiving telephone traffic from these companies.

The FCC warned in the orders that even if the companies remedy the technical deficiencies, their certifications may still be revoked if they cannot provide “compelling evidence” proving that their access to the U.S. communications network “does not pose a national security threat and serves the public interest.”

The Robocall Mitigation Database was established by the FCC in 2020, requiring all domestic and foreign telecom companies that use U.S. phone numbers to deliver voice traffic to U.S. users to submit descriptions of their anti-robocall measures.

The FCC stated that as the relevant regulations took effect in early 2024, the three Chinese companies failed to update their certification information and robocall-mitigation plans as required. Under the rules, once their certifications are removed, operators within the United States may no longer directly process calls that use U.S. numbering resources from these companies.

In addition to the robocall issue, the FCC also repeatedly cited national-security concerns in the documents. The agency noted that China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom are all state-owned enterprises of the Chinese Communist Party and may be “susceptible to influence, control, or exploitation” by the CCP, thereby posing risks to U.S. communications infrastructure.

The FCC had previously banned these three companies from operating telecom services directly in the United States. In 2019, citing national-security risks, the FCC denied China Mobile’s application to enter the U.S. market. In 2021 and 2022, the FCC revoked the operating authorizations of China Telecom Americas, China Unicom, Pacific Networks, and its wholly-owned subsidiary ComNet.

The FCC also placed these companies and their affiliates on the so-called “Covered List,” determining that their equipment and services pose an unacceptable risk to U.S. national security. Recently, the FCC took further action to withdraw recognition of testing laboratories owned or controlled by the Chinese Communist government.

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