The Trump administration has told the
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to block China Mobile from entering the US telecoms market on national security grounds.
The state-backed telco has been tied up for seven years on an application for a Section 214 license to offer international voice traffic from the US to foreign countries, according to the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
However, it has been decided that granting such a license to a carrier funded by Beijing would present “unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks.”
“After significant engagement with China Mobile, concerns about increased risks to US law enforcement and national security interests were unable to be resolved,” said David Redl, assistant secretary for communications and information, in a
statement.
“Therefore, the Executive Branch of the US government, through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration pursuant to its statutory responsibility to coordinate the presentation of views of the Executive Branch to the FCC, recommends that the FCC deny China Mobile’s Section 214 license request.”
