FCC Commissioner Starks Keynote at ACI Team Telecom Conference

I’m excited to discuss Team Telecom and the Federal Communications Commission with you.

• My colleagues and I initiated hearings on March 17 to determine whether we should revoke the US operating authority of two Chinese-owned telecom carriers and their affiliates on national security and law enforcement grounds. In doing so, we relied on recommendations from Team Telecom, which advised us that these companies are ultimately owned and/or controlled by the Chinese government and vulnerable to its exploitation.
• While these actions focus on removing threats within the US, we can’t neglect other important communications areas that are subject to oversight by the FCC and Team Telecom. Team Telecom has recently expressed security concerns about proposals from American tech companies and Chinese telecom carriers for undersea cables connecting our countries.
• Even as the FCC has revoked the authority of Chinese carriers to interconnect with our telecom networks, some of those same entities operate data centers in the US that are not subject to FCC jurisdiction. Currently, the FCC lacks the authority to address this potential national security threat, but as part of any review of our jurisdiction over broadband services generally, the FCC should work with the new Administration and Congress to consider whether the FCC needs broader jurisdiction to tackle this emerging network security issue as well.
• We also need to continue to address the problem of insecure equipment in our networks.
• The FCC should also consider some internal changes. I’ve encouraged the agency to form a national security inter-bureau task force.