The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which used to routinely make
headlines over net neutrality, is now preparing to ban the use of any Chinese technology or equipment in undersea telecommunications cables that connect to the United States—with a major vote expected to be made in August. It's hoped that the ban will help secure vital internet infrastructure from cyber and clandestine threats.
Today,
submarine cables carry a staggering 99% of all global internet traffic. Nearly everything you stream, post, or game online moves through this under-ocean highway. Apparently, the FCC, spooked by fears of espionage, cyber-attack, and/or even clandestine tapping, has decided enough is enough. FCC Chair Brendan Carr declared the U.S. is “taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership and access, as well as cyber and physical threats,” which is really a roundabout way of saying: “No Huawei, ZTE, China Mobile, or China Telecom gear allowed.”
The timing isn’t random either. Over the past few years, suspicions have been raised when cables were mysteriously severed in the Baltic Sea, Taiwan’s Matsu Islands were left in digital darkness amid suspected sabotage by Chinese vessels, and even Houthi attacks disrupting cables en route to Europe and Asia. Then when you add cyber incidents like the
Salt Typhoon assault on U.S. telecoms, and it’s easy to see why Washington is pushing for this vote now.
Since 2020, regulators have already blocked or canceled four cable projects linking the U.S. with Hong Kong, driven by fears over Beijing’s influence. Critics now argue it’s time to raise the bar even higher. If approved in August, the FCC’s new rule would place all Chinese equipment vendors on a strict blacklist, i.e. companies named on the FCC’s covered list won't be able to connect to U.S. soil any more. This roster already includes heavy hitters like Huawei, ZTE, China Telecom, and China Mobile.
But the FCC isn’t just waving a red flag (PDF) at foreign firms with its
newly proposed rules (PDF). It’s also exploring ways to fast-track licensing for U.S. companies (like Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon) that promise to boost national control over
subsea lines, provided they meet tight security requirements.
Submarine cables have rapidly become strategic assets, quietly shaping global power dynamics. A 2023
Reuters investigation dubbed it a “proxy war beneath the waves,” where data routes ranging from Singapore to France are jostled for control. Analysts say that if the U.S. lets strategic choke-points like Hong Kong land cables slip under Chinese influence, it would be surrendering control of a vital hardware vulnerability.