China Unicom whose technology is embedded across several Australian businesses has been banned in the USA over “significant” national security and espionage concerns.
China Unicom Australia describe themselves as a ‘comprehensive ICT service provider based in Sydney, providing service to clients across Oceania’
China Unicom (Australia) Operations Pty Ltd is a Sydney-based, wholly owned subsidiary of China Unicom with carriers and NBN suppliers using their gear.
The Chinese business has become the latest Chinese telecoms giant to be banned from the US after Huawei and China Telecom was banned late last year.
The Chinese Communist Government retaliated by banning supplies of notebooks and PCs from Companies such as Dell, and HP.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said it had voted unanimously to revoke authorisation for the company’s American unit to operate in the US.
The firm must stop providing telecoms services in America within 60 days.
FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said: “There has been mounting evidence – and with it, a growing concern – those Chinese state-owned carriers pose a real threat to the security of our telecommunications networks.”
In November, President Joe Biden signed legislation that stops companies judged to be a security threat from receiving new telecoms equipment licences.
It resulted in equipment from Huawei, ZTE and three other Chinese companies stopped from being used in US telecoms networks.
In Australia both Telstra and Optus are still selling mobile phones manufactured by ZTE.
When the USA revoked the licence of China Telecom who have been a major supplier to Australian carriers, they cited major national security concerns.
US officials said the Chinese government’s control of the company China Telecom gave it the opportunity “to access, store, disrupt, and/or misroute US communications”.
This in turn could allow it “to engage in espionage and other harmful activities against the US”, they said.
In 2019, Chinese state-owned telecoms giant China Mobile also had its US licence revoked.
