Last Updated on 22/11/2021 by Nidhi Khandelwal
Image courtesy; the guardian
China Telecom Americas’ licence to provide telecommunication services across the Country has been cancelled by the Federal Communications Commission.
China Telecom Americas is the state-owned telecom company’s largest foreign subsidiary. Over 135 million internet customers and more than 255 million mobile subscribers use its services in over 100 countries.
After six US Executive Branch agencies (the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense, State, Industry, and the US Trade Representative) petitioned the FCC to prevent China Telecom Americas from operating in the US in April 2020 due to substantial cybersecurity threats, the decision was made.
According to US intelligence agencies at the time, China Telecom’s operations in the United States provide an opportunity for Chinese state-backed threat actors to engage in espionage, allowing them to steal trade secrets and other confidential business information, as well as disrupt and misroute U.S. communications traffic via BGP hijacking.
