US agency votes to launch review, update undersea telecommunications cable rules

WASHINGTON — 

The Federal Communications Commission voted connected Thursday to suggest caller rules governing undersea net cables successful the look of increasing information concerns, arsenic portion of a reappraisal of regulations connected the links that grip astir each the world's online traffic.

The FCC voted 5-0 connected projected updates to code the nationalist information concerns implicit the planetary web of much than 400 subsea cables that grip much than 98% of planetary net traffic.

"With the enlargement of information centers, emergence of unreality computing, and expanding bandwidth demands of caller ample connection models, these facilities are poised to turn adjacent much critical," FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said.

Baltic nations said this week they are investigating whether the cutting of 2 fiber-optic undersea telecommunication cables successful the Baltic Sea was sabotage.

Rosenworcel noted that successful 2023 Taiwan accused 2 Chinese vessels of cutting the lone 2 cables that enactment net entree connected the Matsu Islands and Houthi attacks successful the Red Sea whitethorn person been liable for the cutting of 3 cables providing net work to Europe and Asia.

"While the details of these incidents stay successful dispute, what is wide is that these facilities -- with locations that are openly published to forestall harm -- are becoming a target," Rosenworcel said.

The Chinese Embassy successful Washington said "turning undersea cables into a governmental and information contented severely disrupts planetary marketplace rules, threatens planetary integer connectivity and cybersecurity, and denies different countries, particularly processing countries, the close to make their undersea cablegram industry."

The FCC is conducting its archetypal large reappraisal since 2001 and proposing to barroom overseas companies that person been denied telecommunications licenses connected nationalist information grounds from obtaining submarine cablegram landing licenses.

It besides proposes to barroom the usage of instrumentality oregon services successful those undersea cablegram facilities from companies connected an FCC database of companies deemed to airs threats to U.S nationalist information including Huawei, ZTE 000063.SZ 601728.SS, China Telecom 0728.HK and China Mobile 600941.SS.

FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks said the committee is considering whether to barroom companies from getting undersea cablegram licenses that are connected different lists similar the Commerce Department's Consolidated Screening List. "China has made nary concealed of its extremity to power the market, and truthful the information that flows passim the world," Starks said.

Last month, a bipartisan radical of 8 U.S. senators called connected President Joe Biden to undertake "a reappraisal of existing vulnerabilities to planetary undersea cablegram infrastructure, including the menace of sabotage by Russia and China."

The United States has for years expressed concerns astir China’s relation successful handling web postulation and imaginable for espionage.

Since 2020, U.S. regulators person been instrumental successful the cancellation of 4 cables whose backers had wanted to nexus the United States with Hong Kong.

In June, the FCC precocious a connection to boost the information of accusation transmitted crossed the net aft authorities agencies said a Chinese bearer misrouted traffic.