Commerce may condemn China Mobile's hopes for US license



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An agency of the Commerce Department on Monday recommended that the Federal Communications Commission reject China Mobile's offer to operate in the US market, saying that Beijing could use the Chinese telecommunications giant for the verdict of the National Administration of Telecommunications and Information (NTIA), which collected the contribution of the forces of order and intelligence, almost kills the hopes of the Chinese company to obtain approval to handle the international affairs of Americans. calls after a quest of nearly seven years.

"The granting of authorization poses an unacceptable risk to the national security and law enforcement of the United States," NTIA said. "… This assessment is largely based on the record of China's intelligence and economic espionage activities targeting the United States, as well as the size and technical and financial resources of China Mobile."

report offered a rough summary of the US government's doubts about cooperation with China. Although the US has already granted such licenses to Chinese state-owned companies, the awareness of Beijing's involvement in economic espionage against the United States makes the risk too great with China Mobile , said NTIA. The environment has changed as the sophistication and damage resulting from the Chinese government's involvement in computer intrusions and attacks against the United States has evolved over time, "the report says.

FCC should review the verdict of the NTIA assessments by White House agencies and the ministries of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense and the State – later this summer.To safeguard its application, China Mobile proposed three years ago several measures to mitigate the risks associated with its business in the United States. "The application should have been refused years ago," said Michael Wessel, a member of the review of the US-Chinese economy and security, a congressional advisory body. "… For those in the US who have communications security issues, the license denial is waited for a long time. "

At its September 2011 request, China Mobile said the Chinese government indirectly owned nearly three-quarters of the company. the largest mobile operator in the world, with more than 649 million subscribers and around 164,000 employees. The company has not requested permission to provide domestic telephone service in the United States.

But if it had been approved to carry international calls from Americans, it would have had access to the US telecommunications network, including telephone lines and cellular networks, fiber optic cables and communications satellites. This would allow him to "target, modify, block and re-route traffic", including US government agencies, according to the report.

The company would have been "supposed to comply with any request or order for assistance" The NTIA report concluded, specifically highlighting the danger of cyberattacks against US targets.

Despite a 2015 agreement between President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping to blow up cyber espionage aimed at commercializing According to the newspaper, US companies continue to suffer from attempts to intrude into Chinese computer companies.

In addition to his public assertions on Chinese government spying, the report included a qualified attachment of more recent assessments of cybersecurity violations. and economic espionage and theft involving the Chinese government that threaten, among other things, the infrastructure of urity network and telecommunications. "

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