Chinese telecom firms urge FCC not to halt US services

The U.S. units of China Telecom and China Unicom urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) not to revoke their nearly two-decade old authorization to provide international telecommunications services to and from the United States.

In April, the U.S. Justice Department and other federal agencies asked the FCC to act, citing national security concerns.

China Unicom (Americas) in a June 1 FCC filing said it had “a two-decade track record as a valuable contributor to U.S. telecommunications markets, a good record of compliance with its FCC regulatory obligations, and a demonstrated willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement agencies.”

China Telecom (Americas) called the government’s claims “unfounded” and argued the FCC should not revoke its right to operate in the United States “based solely on foreign policy concerns in the absence of any evidence whatsoever of specific misconduct,” according to Reuters.

It added the company’s “conduct to date does not demonstrate any reasonable basis for the U.S. government’s stated lack of trust.”

The U.S. Justice Department, along with Homeland Security, Defense, State and Commerce Departments, in April cited “substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks associated with China Telecom’s operations.”

In April, the FCC issued show-cause orders warning it might shut down the U.S. operations of three state-controlled Chinese telecommunications companies: China Telecom, China Unicom and Pacific Networks Corp and its subsidiary ComNet (USA).