THE US FEDERAL Communications Commission (FCC) has removed the authority of China Telecom to operate in the United States, claiming the company failed to refute concerns over national security.
The FCC has given China Telecom, which has a 40-percent stake in Dito Telecommunity Corp., the third telco player in the Philippines, 60 days to halt operations, and stop providing domestic and international services.
China Telecom, the largest Chinese telecommunications company, has had authorization to provide telecommunications services for nearly 20 years in the United States.
In a statement, the FCC explained it found that China Telecom "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 US regulator 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.
