UPDATE Earlier this month, the FCC told China Telecom Americas Corporation the agency is revoking permission to do business in America due to national security concerns. Last month, Commissioners unanimously voted to take action, saying the telecom is under the Chinese government’s authority and must use its telecommunications gear to conduct espionage when asked. The Commissioners also said the company has not been forthcoming with the agency about its business here.
Now, China Telecom is appealing the revocation decision, saying the FCC exceeded its authority. Specifically, China Telecom says it wasn’t given due process. “The Commission’s failure to designate the Section 214 revocation and termination proceedings for a hearing prior to issuance of the Order tramples on [China Telecom Americas’] constitutionally protected property rights, violating the Due Process Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Administrative Procedure Act, and the Commission’s own precedent governing Section 214 authorization revocations proceedings,” the company told the FCC in a filing this week.
It calls the FCC decision “arbitrary and capricious,” and emphasizes “the evidence does not support revocation or termination” of its Section 214 authorization. Without a stay, CTA says it will be “forced to cease large segments of its operations, causing massive irreparable harm to CTA’s business, reputation, and its relationships with customers and other carriers.”
It’s asking for a brief delay pending judicial review. If the FCC is not inclined to grant a stay of the revocation order, CTA asks that the agency grant an interim delay so it can file for a stay with a federal appeals court. Without such a delay, CTA tells the FCC, it must immediately take steps to notify customers their service will be discontinued or transfer them to an alternative provider.
The process to revoke China Telecom’s authorizations began under the previous administration. In April 2020, the Departments of Justice, Homeland Security, Defense, State, Commerce, and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration, recommended that the Commission revoke and terminate CTA’s international Section 214 common carrier authorizations.
The Executive Branch agencies alleged that “substantial and unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks [are] associated with [CTA’s] continued access to U.S. telecommunications infrastructure pursuant to its international Section 214 authorizations.” The risks of CTA’s continued operations in the U.S. can’t be mitigated, they stressed.
The company’s previous objections to the FCC commencing proceedings to revoke the authorizations were denied, Inside Towers reported.
By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief
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