FCC commissioner requires scrutiny of subsea data cables that link to ‘adversary international locations’
(Reuters) — A member of the U.S. Federal Communications Fee on Wednesday called for brand fresh scrutiny of undersea cables that transmit virtually about the total sector’s internet data traffic.
“We should always select a more in-depth stare at cables with landing locations in adversary international locations,” FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said Wednesday at a commission meeting. “This comprises the four unusual submarine cables connecting the U.S. and China, most of that are partially owned by Chinese divulge-owned firms.”
The United States has step by step expressed concerns about China’s feature in handling community traffic and a potential for espionage. Around 300 subsea cables create the spine of the receive, carrying 99% of the field’s data traffic.
Starks said the FCC “have to be clear that adversary international locations and numerous hostile actors can’t tamper with, block, or intercept the communications they bring.”
In April, the FCC licensed Alphabet unit Google’s quiz to make utilize of allotment of a U.S.-Asia undersea telecommunications cable, but now not to Hong Kong, after U.S. companies raised national security concerns.
Google agreed to operate a chunk of the 8,000-mile Pacific Mild Cable Community Gadget between the United States and Taiwan, but now not Hong Kong. Google and Facebook helped pay for constructing of the completed link, but U.S. regulators blocked its utilize.
The firms in August abandoned the proposal to make utilize of the Hong Kong piece. A Facebook affiliate has sought FCC approval to make utilize of a chunk of the cable connecting the Philippines and United States.
Starks eminent that on Sept 10, Facebook, Amazon, and China Cell withdrew their application to join San Francisco and Hong Kong as allotment of the Bay to Bay Categorical Cable Gadget.
The firms told the FCC they’d work to stable a license “for a reconfigured machine” acceptable to the Trump administration.
The FCC in April denied China Cell’s application to operate in the United States. “The concerns aren’t upright about the landing sites of the cables but who owns and operates them,” Starks added.
The FCC said in April it’ll also shut down U.S. operations of three divulge-managed Chinese telecommunications firms — China Telecom Americas, China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks, and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet (USA) LLC. FCC chair Ajit Pai declined to utter Wednesday when the commission also can select action.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, bettering by Chizu Nomiyama.)