Federal Communications Commission chairman Ajit Pai said Wednesday he was scheduling a vote May 9 on a measure to deny the application of China Mobile USA, described as a Delaware-registered subsidiary that is indirectly controlled by the Chinese government, on national security grounds.
Parent company China Mobile is the world's largest mobile phone operator by customers, with about 899 million subscribers. China Mobile is seeking approval to be listed as a"common carrier" that would enable it to carry international voice traffic between the US and foreign countries, and to connect that traffic with the US telecommunications network. China Mobile told the agency it wouldn't provide domestic telephone or mobile services in the US.
The FCC staff read both the government filing and China Mobile's responses and recommended that the commission reject the request.The move didn't come as a surprise to China Mobile investors as expectations were low to begin with, said Kevin Chen, an analyst at China Merchants Securities HK Co. Shares of the carrier slipped 0.7 per cent as of 11.45am Thursday in Hong Kong.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, a branch of the Commerce Department, urged the FCC to block China Mobile's application, saying its entry into the market"would pose unacceptable national security and law enforcement risks".Should the commission vote to reject China Mobile's application, the company can ask a federal court to review that decision.
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