By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Federal Communications Commission will vote this month to tighten restrictions on telecommunications equipment made by Chinese companies deemed national security risks, the latest in a series of U.S. actions targeting Beijing.
The U.S. telecom regulator previously named companies including Huawei Technologies, ZTE, Hangzhou Hikvision, China Mobile and China Telecom to the so-called “Covered List,” which bars the FCC from authorizing for import or sale new equipment from those companies.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr said the agency will vote on October 28 to prohibit authorization of devices containing component parts that are on the Covered List and authorize the agency to prohibit sale of previously authorized Covered List equipment in specific cases.
“We will also tee up a number of questions about how to further improve the process and keep bad gear out of our networks,” Carr said in a statement.
In March, the FCC said it was investigating nine Chinese companies on the Covered List including Huawei, ZTE as well as Hytera Communications, Dahua Technology Company, Pacifica Networks/ComNet and China Unicom (Americas).
The Chinese Embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.
The FCC previously barred some Chinese companies from providing telecommunications services in the United States, citing national security concerns.
Carr said earlier the FCC has reason to believe some or all of the Chinese firms on the list “are trying to make an end run around those FCC prohibitions by continuing to do business in America on a private or ‘unregulated’ basis.”
Last month, the FCC began proceedings to withdraw recognition from seven test labs owned or controlled by the Chinese government, citing U.S. national security concerns.
The U.S. telecom agency in May voted to finalize rules barring such labs from testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras and computers for use in the United States.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Lincoln Feast)
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