The FCC is snuffing out Huawei and ZTE’s American comeback hopes
In June of 2020, the United States officially declared Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE asnational security threatsbecause of the amount of data they handle and their close proximity to the Chinese government. In the time since, American wireless carriers have been busy using public funds appropriated by Congress to “rip and replace” Huawei and ZTE equipment from their respective grids. Then, just last week, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel sent out a proposal to ban approvals for telecommunications equipment made by companies deemed to be a national security risk, including Huawei and ZTE. The proposal was also sent to the three FCC commissioners and it now seems like a complete ban on equipment approvals is imminent.
In a statement posted on Thursday, Rosenworcel said the agency wants to safeguard national security “by ensuring that untrustworthy communications equipment is not authorized for use” within the US. As Reutersnotes, Congress has asked the FCC to come up with a viable solution by the middle of November. The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), welcomed the agency’s decision to ban approvals on equipment produced by select Chinese manufacturers.
China’s position on the equipment ban has remained unchanged over the past few years. The Chinese embassy in Washington stated earlier this year that companies hailing from the region are unfairly targeted by the US government “without factual basis.”
The FCC placed companies including Huawei,ZTE, Hytera Communications Corp, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Co, and Zhejiang Dahua Technology on the blacklist in March 2021. A few months later, the agency voted to set the wheels in motion to ban new equipment approvals from these companies. The commission said at the time that it was contemplating a ban on all future equipment authorization for corporations on the list.
Meanwhile, the FCC has periodically added new companies to the covered list, including PacNet/ComNet and China Unicomlast monthbased on the recommendations of national security agencies.
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