America Moves to Shut Chinese Telecom Giants Out of Its Data Infrastructure

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FCC targets China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom — a sweeping new crackdown on Beijing's reach into U.S. networks

The United States is preparing its most far-reaching action yet against Chinese state-linked telecommunications companies. On April 9, 2026, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — the government agency that regulates U.S. communications networks — announced it has tentatively concluded that American and other carriers operating in the country should be barred from connecting their networks with three Chinese telecom giants: China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom.

A formal vote on the proposal is scheduled for April 30.

What the FCC Is Proposing — and Why It Matters

At the heart of the new rules is the concept of "interconnection." When your phone call, email, or data travels from one network to another, the two networks must physically and digitally connect. The FCC now wants to ban those connections whenever one party is a company on its so-called "Covered List" — a register of firms deemed threats to U.S. national security.

The FCC is also considering prohibiting Chinese telecoms that own data centers or Points of Presence (PoPs) — physical hubs where networks exchange data — from connecting with other companies on U.S. soil. In plain terms: even if a Chinese telecom giant doesn't directly serve American customers, it could no longer plug into the plumbing of the U.S. internet.

The agency is additionally considering extending the ban to affiliates of companies on the national security list, and could prohibit U.S. carriers from interconnecting with any company that has installed equipment made by Huawei or ZTE — two Chinese tech firms already banned from U.S. networks.

A History of Escalating Restrictions

The three companies targeted are not newcomers to U.S. regulatory scrutiny. Washington has been tightening the screws for years.

In 2019, the FCC rejected China Mobile's application to provide telecom services in the U.S. In 2021, operating authorizations for China Unicom and related entities were revoked, and China Telecom Americas lost its U.S. authorization in 2022.

The FCC has previously stated that Chinese telecom firms are "subject to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government," and raised particular concerns about their access to Points of Presence typically located within data centers. Critics have long argued that these access points could allow Beijing's intelligence services to monitor or intercept sensitive communications passing through U.S. infrastructure.

The Broader Crackdown: Drones, Routers, and Testing Labs

The data center proposal is only the latest in a series of moves. The FCC has been systematically closing off channels through which Chinese-made hardware and services could reach American networks.

In December 2025, the FCC banned the import of all new models of Chinese drones. Last month, it banned imports of new models of Chinese-made consumer routers — the boxes that connect home computers, phones, and smart devices to the internet.

Now, the agency is going a step further into the supply chain. The FCC will vote April 30 on a separate proposal to bar all Chinese labs from testing electronic devices such as smartphones, cameras, and computers for use in the U.S. This would extend a ban from last year that had already shut out 23 Chinese testing facilities. The significance is considerable: roughly 75 percent of all consumer electronics are currently tested in China before reaching U.S. store shelves.

The National Security Argument

The FCC's actions fit into a broader pattern of executive-branch concerns about Chinese technology in critical infrastructure. For consumer routers, an interagency review convened by the White House concluded the devices posed risks that were simply unacceptable. Similar findings drove the drone ban.

The stricter approach to Chinese telecom hardware traces back at least to 2019, when then-President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at giving the federal government power to block U.S. companies from buying foreign-made telecom equipment deemed a national security risk — a move that hit Huawei especially hard.

The Trump administration's current FCC chairman, Brendan Carr, has continued and expanded that trajectory. "The FCC will continue to safeguard America's networks against penetration from foreign adversaries, like China," the agency said in a recent statement.

What Happens Next

The April 30 vote will be the first formal step — not the final one. After an initial vote, the FCC typically opens a period for public comment before issuing a binding rule. But the direction of travel is unmistakable: the United States is methodically dismantling any remaining infrastructure links between its communications networks and companies tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

For China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, the last remaining footholds in the U.S. digital landscape appear to be closing — one regulatory vote at a time.

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Sources

1. Reuters via Yahoo News Canada — FCC considers new crackdown on Chinese telecom companies (April 9, 2026): https://ca.news.yahoo.com/us-considers-crackdown-chinese-telecom-205748984.html
2. Reuters via BusinessWorld Online — US considers new crackdown on Chinese telecom companies (April 10, 2026): https://www.bworldonline.com/world/2026/04/10/742067/us-considers-new-crackdown-on-chinese-telecom-companies/
3. Data Center Dynamics — FCC orders Chinese carriers to stop broadband services in the US: https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/fcc-orders-chinese-carriers-to-stop-offering-broadband-services-in-the-us/
4. FCC Official Statement on Covered List / National Security Determinations: https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/fccs-covered-list

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