FCC adds two more Chinese carriers to threat list

The news: The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) added two more Chinese companies to its growing list of national security threats, per The Register.

Banned in the USA: Pacific Network and its wholly owned subsidiary ComNet and China Unicom now join Huawei, ZTE, Hytera, Hikvision, Dahua, China Mobile, China Telecom, and Russia’s Kaspersky as potential threats.

• “We are taking additional action to close the door to these companies by adding them to the FCC’s Covered List,” said FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.
• The list includes companies believed to be “subject to the exploitation, influence, and control of the Chinese government.” 
• US buyers who shop through federal subsidies are prohibited from transacting with the companies. 

What’s next? While the FCC has implemented a $1.9 billion program to reimburse US companies for ripping out and replacing equipment from Chinese companies, smaller regional carriers and telecoms could see service disruptions while they transition away from blacklisted products.