FCC Taking 'Whole of Government' Approach on 5G Security, Says Pai

The FCC’s 5-0 vote last year to deny China Mobile an application to enter the U.S. market (see 1905090039) and subsequent actions reflect the U.S. “whole of government” approach to 5G security, Chairman Ajit Pai said Friday in a speech at CyFy 2020. “This decision was made after a lengthy Executive Branch review of the application and consultation with the U.S. intelligence community,” Pai said: “This is one of many examples of how we are working across the entire U.S. government to tackle the real and documented dangers posed by insecure networks.” Pai stressed the importance of open radio access networks and said “international cooperation is critical if we are to protect our 5G infrastructure.” The FCC International Bureau sent letters to DOJ asking that the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the U.S. Telecom Services Sector address arguments by China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks and ComNet on why the FCC shouldn’t begin a proceeding to revoke and terminate their domestic and international authorizations. The letters (see here and here) were listed in Friday’s Daily Digest. China Unicom Americas argues it's “not subject to the exploitation, influence, or control of the Chinese government for a number of reasons,” and “none of the company’s senior management or board members [were] appointed by the Chinese government,” the bureau said: Pacific Networks and ComNet contend “neither Company has been asked by the Chinese government or the Chinese Communist Party to take any action that would ‘jeopardize the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States’ or would suggest that the Companies are vulnerable ‘to the exploitation, influence, and control of the Chinese government.’”