THE US telecoms regulator has voted to revoke the authorisation for Chinese telecoms operator Pacific Networks to provide telecommunications services in the US, Reuters reports.

The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) also revoked authorisation of the companies wholly owned subsidiary ComNet. The vote to revoke the authority that had been granted in 2001 is the latest move by the American regulator to bar Chinese telecommunications carriers from the United States citing national security concerns.

The FCC said Pacific Networks and ComNet are indirectly and ultimately owned and controlled by the Chinese government.

Jeffrey Carlisle, a lawyer representing Pacific Networks, declined comment. In January, he told the FCC that Pacific Networks and ComNet are owned by CITIC Telecom International Holdings.

The FCC says the carriers are ultimately controlled by CITIC Group Corp, a Chinese state-owned limited liability company. Mr Carlise's letter said the carriers "engage in very limited and small scale facilities-based operations in the United States that do not pose national security concerns. The primary business of the companies is providing retail calling cards."

Source Shipping Gazette