Section 214 authorization is needed.[1] Team Telecom undertook a seven year review before ultimately recommending that the FCC deny the application on national security grounds. The FCC denied the application, but it did so nearly a year after receiving Team Telecom's recommendation.
1. Team Telecom's Review of China Mobile USA's Application Lasted Seven Years
As noted above, China Mobile USA applied for Section 214 authorization on September 1, 2011.[2] The FCC referred the application to Team Telecom for its input on the national security and law enforcement risks posed by the proposed operations.[3] Team Telecom requested the application be removed from streamlining to give it additional time to evaluate concerns.[4] Team Telecom spent the next seven years evaluating the application, during which Team Telecom engaged China Mobile USA to "learn more about its management, business, and proposed activities."[5] China Mobile USA responded to Team Telecom's questions between 2011 and 2012 and again to another set of inquiries in 2014.[6] Not until July 2018, however, did Team Telecom—through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration ("NTIA")[7]—recommend that the FCC deny China Mobile USA's application. Team Telecom concluded that China Mobile USA's proposed services raised serious national security concerns that could not be sufficiently mitigated through a security agreement.[8] Team Telecom's concerns generally fell into the following categories.
China Mobile USA is ultimately owned by the Chinese government. Team Telecom noted that China Mobile USA, through intermediary companies, is majority owned and controlled by the Chinese government.[9] China Mobile USA is
- ↑ See Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n, Public Notice—International Applications Accepted for Filing, Report No. TEL-01519S (Sept. 16, 2011); In the Matter of China Mobile Int'l (USA) Inc., FCC No. 19-38, 34 FCC Red 3361, 3367, ¶ 4 (May 10, 2019). See also Letter from J. Kostyu, Counsel to China Mobile International (USA) Inc., to Marlene Dortch, Sec'y, Fed. Commc'ns Comm'n (Mar. 12, 2013).
- ↑ See In the Matter of China Mobile Int'l (USA) Inc., FCC No. 19-38, 34 FCC Red 3361, 3367, 4 (May 10, 2019).
- ↑ Id. at 5. Other Executive Branch agencies were also asked to opine on foreign policy and trade risks. Id.
- ↑ Cf. id.
- ↑ Executive Branch Recommendation re China Mobile USA, supra note 56, at 4.
- ↑ Id. at 4-5.
- ↑ Team Telecom works closely with other Executive Branch agencies to prepare a single recommendation on behalf of the Executive Branch. NTIA is responsible for filing that recommendation with the FCC. Briefing with the Dep't of Justice (Aug. 1, 2019). NTIA is a part of the Department of Commerce. See About NTIA, Nat'l Telecommc'ns & Info. Admin., https://www.ntia.doc.gov/about.
- ↑ Id.; Li Tao, Why the US Government Sees China Mobile as a National Security Threat, South China Morning Post (July 4, 2018).
- ↑ See In the Matter of China Mobile Int'l (USA) Inc., FCC No. 19-38, 34 FCC Red 3361, 3367 ¶ 19 (May 10, 2019).
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