History
2021: US Service License Revocation
On October 26, 2021, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ordered telecom operator China Telecom Americas to stop providing telecommunications services in the United States, citing national security concerns.
China Telecom Americas must terminate services in America within 60 days. Officials said that the Chinese government's control over the company gives it the opportunity to gain access, store, violate, and misdirect American communications. All this, in turn, can allow her to engage in espionage and other malicious activities against the United States.
The company, which has been providing telecommunications services in the United States for almost 20 years, called the decision disappointing. The company is one of three companies that dominate China's telecommunications market and has hundreds of millions of customers in 110 countries worldwide, providing a wide range of services from broadband Internet access to mobile and fixed telephone networks.
The decision was made a few hours after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen spoke with Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu He about the state of the world economy. The meeting was seen as a sign of improved relations between the two superpowers, who had recently exchanged pranks over trade and Taiwan. This is the last Chinese telecommunications company that has come to the attention of the US authorities in connection with national security issues.
In all past cases of companies such as Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile, China Unicom Americas and Pacific Networks, it is worth noting that US officials cited the risk that the Chinese government may use these companies to spy on the United States or harm the national interests of the country provide no factual evidence. According to Bloomberg, other companies with foreign participation are also looking at this inequality in business, which has a rather bad effect on the US economy.[1]