FCC initiates process to ban Hong Kong Telecom in US
The Federal Communications Commission on Wednesday initiated a procedural step to ban Hong Kong Telecom from U.S. networks.
The agency’s Office of International Affairs, Wireline Competition Bureau and Enforcement Bureau sent an order to HKT and subsidiaries directing them “to explain why the FCC should not commence revocation proceedings against them,” an agency statement said.
The company is affiliated with China Unicom, which was previously banned from operating on American networks.
The step continues a long saga of FCC actions to jettison communications providers deemed risky to U.S. national security.
HKT didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
“Today’s order continues the FCC’s work of ensuring that [Chinese Communist Party]-controlled entities that pose national security risks to our country cannot connect to our telecom networks,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement.
In March, Carr said his agency was probing a group of Chinese providers that may still be operating in the U.S. despite prior restrictions being levied on them. China Unicom is among those companies.
