The
report from the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations says the U.S. government "provided little-to-no
oversight of Chinese state-owned telecommunications carriers
operating in the United States for nearly twenty years."
It faulted the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and "Team
Telecom" - an informal group comprised of officials from the
Justice, Homeland Security, and Defense Departments - in their
oversight of China Telecom (Americas) Corp <728.HK>, China
Unicom (Americas) <0762.HK>, and Pacific Networks Corp, which
all received FCC approval for U.S. operations about two decades
ago.
In April, the FCC issued show-cause orders requiring the three
state-owned Chinese carriers to explain why the agency should
not revoke their authorization to operate in the United States.
All three carriers have urged the FCC not to do that.
The report urged the FCC to quickly decide whether to revoke the
three Chinese carriers' authorizations.
"Federal agencies have done little to protect the integrity of
U.S. telecommunications networks and counter national security
threats from China," the panel's chairman, Rob Portman, a
Republican, said in a statement.
The panel's top Democrat, Tom Carper, said the report shows "how
we've allowed Chinese government-owned companies gain a foothold
in our telecommunications industry while their American
competitors face significant barriers to entry in China."
In May 2019, the FCC denied approval for another Chinese
carrier, China Mobile Ltd <0941.HK>, to operate in the United
States, citing national security concerns.
An FCC spokesman said the commission looks forward to reviewing
the Senate report.
Team Telecom until recently conducted limited oversight of the
Chinese state-owned carriers and had no interaction with China
Unicom Americas since the FCC's authorization in 2002, the
report found.
The White House issued an executive order in April to formalize
Team Telecom's scrutiny of foreign telecommunications firms, but
the panel wants Congress to grant formal legislative authority
to "provide for greater oversight over foreign carriers."
(Reporting by David Shepardson. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
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