What it does The Order finds that CTA is indirectly owned and controlled by the Chinese government, creating opportunities to access, store, disrupt, or misroute U.S. communications. It also finds that CTA’s conduct and representations undermined the trustworthiness required of a telecommunications carrier, and that further mitigation would not resolve the risks. Separately, the FCC terminates CTA’s international authorizations for willful violations of two provisions of its 2007 Letter of Assurances with DOJ, DHS, and FBI. The Commission relies on the written record, including classified material that it says is not necessary to support the decision.

Who it affects CTA must discontinue domestic and international services provided under its section 214 authority. The decision directly affects CTA, its U.S. customers, and counterparties relying on its communications services; it also establishes a significant FCC action against a foreign-government-controlled telecommunications carrier.

Why it matters The Order illustrates the FCC’s use of section 214 public-interest authority, informed by Executive Branch national-security assessments, to remove a carrier from the U.S. telecommunications market. It also holds that a live administrative hearing was not required where the issues could be resolved on the written record.

Key dates and numbers

• Adopted October 26, 2021; released November 2, 2021.
• CTA must discontinue covered services within 60 days of release.
• Two international authorizations and one domestic blanket authority were revoked or terminated.
• The FCC used a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard.