According to a press release by FCC Chairman Brandon Car, the Federal Communications Commission plans to vote on new rules that will ban the use of Chinese technology in Andrea Cables. The proposed rules will apply to any company on the list of current FCC companies that “are an unacceptable threat to the United States’ national security.”
In addition to “banning the use of” covered “equipment, the FCC’s new rules will also restrict the ability to obtain a license for Chinese companies to make or operate US -connected cables. Underusia or submarine cables are an important piece of internet infrastructure, and in the eyes of the FCC, foreign spying is a potential location. Banning, or limiting the influence of Chinese companies, is an attempt to benefit US cable providers, while the country’s considered enemies have been harmed.
During President Donald Trump’s first term, the FCC took similar steps to prevent mobile carriers from using Chinese equipment in the United States. Trump signed a law that needed carriers to “cut” and change the ZTE mobile infrastructure, and the FCC funded it. However, new rules around the Andrea Cables are being proposed by a very different commission.
Currently, there are only three commissioners on the FCC, below the normal five. Under Kerr, the Commission has adopted a very aggressive approach to organizing the telecommunications industry, which is connected to violate the first amendment. Kerr has threatened to investigate the diversity, equity and involvement policies of companies and are obliged to approve any integration of companies that insist on maintaining them.
The FCC is expected to vote on new rules on August 7. In addition to the FCC’s past measures, they can be justified as a way to secure American infrastructure after hacking the “Salt Typhone” for the affected US carriers and other companies last year.
