FCC wants to ban Chinese tech from undersea cables
The Trump administration plans to issue new rules that would ban Chinese technology from U.S. submarine cables.
The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that the ban will be part of a broader package of policies to encourage an expansion of submarine telecommunications infrastructure while protecting it from “foreign adversary threats.”
“We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.”
The FCC did not cite specific threats to U.S. submarine cables. Concerns about Chinese access to U.S. telecommunications networks in general have led multiple presidential administrations to ban technology from China-based companies such as Huawei and ZTE.
Espionage is the biggest Chinese threat to telecom networks, officials say, as the U.S. government continues to respond to incidents attributed to the China-linked hacking operation labeled Salt Typhoon (also tracked by Recorded Future as RedMike).
Outside of U.S. waters, Taiwan has reported apparent Chinese threats to its undersea cables, and in the Baltic Sea region, multiple incidents have physically damaged cables.
“Submarine cables are the unsung heroes of global communications, carrying 99% of all Internet traffic,” Carr said. “As the U.S. builds out the data centers and other infrastructure necessary to lead the world in AI and next-gen technologies, these cables are more important than ever.”
The FCC did not explain how the technology ban would work, or how it would apply to cables that connect to the U.S. but originate elsewhere.
The rules package will include “a range of measures to protect submarine cables against foreign adversaries—apply a presumption of denial for certain foreign adversary controlled license applicants, limiting capacity leasing agreements to such entities, prohibiting the use of ‘covered’ equipment, establishing cybersecurity and physical security requirements, and more,” the agency said.
The FCC plans to vote on the proposed rules at its August 7 open meeting.
Joe Warminsky
is the news editor for Recorded Future News. He has more than 25 years experience as an editor and writer in the Washington, D.C., area. He previously he helped lead CyberScoop for more than five years. Prior to that, he was a digital editor at WAMU 88.5, the NPR affiliate in Washington, and he spent more than a decade editing coverage of Congress for CQ Roll Call.