The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) warned Chinese carriers to fix certification flaws related to the "Robocall Mitigation Databases (RMD)" and said they could effectively be removed from U.S. networks if they do not comply. RMD are databases in which carriers in the United States register and attest to their own efforts to reduce illegal robocalls and spam calls, allowing other carriers to reference them and block illegal traffic coming from specific carriers.
According to U.S. media and others, the FCC's Enforcement Bureau (EB) on Feb. 8 sent orders to three Chinese carriers—China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom—demanding that they correct flaws in their RMD certifications and report the results.
In the orders, the EB told the carriers to "report whether you have corrected the defects in your RMD certification, or explain why your certification should not be removed from the RMD." It also asked them to present "reasons why including the companies in the RMD would not be contrary to the public interest." The deadline to respond is Feb. 14.
In the orders, the FCC stated that if the relevant certifications are revoked, "all intermediate providers and voice service providers must not accept calls from the carriers using numbers under the North American Numbering Plan (NANP)." In effect, it means general voice calls originating in China and routed to the United States via Chinese carriers could be completely blocked. The industry views the RMD certification correction orders as measures that could further restrict Chinese carriers' access to U.S. communications networks.
The FCC has tightened regulations, viewing Chinese carriers' activities in the United States as a security risk. In 2019, it denied China Mobile's application to provide communications services in the United States, citing national security risks. From 2021 to 2022, it successively revoked the U.S. operating authorizations of China Unicom, Pacific Networks and its subsidiary ComNet, and China Telecom Americas.