What just happened? It seems the next technology to be banned by the US for featuring Chinese components will be undersea cables. The FCC has announced that it will vote on rules that will, among other things, prohibit companies from connecting submarine communications cables to the United States if they include Chinese technology or equipment.
According to a statement from FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the FCC will vote on rules to "unleash submarine cable investment to accelerate the buildout of AI infrastructure, while securing cables against foreign adversaries, like China."
Carr wrote that undersea cable infrastructure, which carries 99% of all international internet traffic, has been threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, including China. Therefore, the US is taking action to guard these cables against foreign adversary ownership and access as well as cyber and physical threats.
The proposed rules will apply to companies on the FCC's entity list, which includes Huawei and ZTE. Donald Trump signed a law during his first term that required US carriers to replace mobile infrastructure from the two Chinese tech giants.
The FCC announced last year that it was considering new rules for the undersea cables, including banning the use of equipment from companies on the entity list as they pose "an unacceptable risk to the national security of the United States."
The rules will also limit Chinese companies' ability to receive a license to build or operate cables that connect to the US, applying a presumption of denial for certain applicants, limiting capacity leasing agreements to such entities, and more.
The Commission is seeking comment on various additional measures to protect submarine cable security against foreign adversary equipment and services, while also incentivizing the use of American submarine cable repair and maintenance ships and the use of trusted technology abroad.
Undersea cables have become an increasingly popular target in recent times. In December 2024, Finland's Estlink 2 power link and two Elisa data cables to Estonia were sliced, apparently by the shadow-fleet tanker Eagle S. China ignored Estonian legal requests yet eventually allowed EU teams to inspect sister vessel Yi Peng 3.
In 2023, Taiwan blamed two Chinese vessels for cutting the two cables supporting internet access on Matsu Islands.
In March, it was reported that China had created a deep-sea cable-cutting device capable of severing the world's most fortified underwater communication and power lines at depths of up to 4,000 meters (2.5 miles).