The Federal Communications Commission has outlined plans to ban companies from using Chinese technology and equipment in subsea cables.

In a statement this week, FCC Chair Brendan Carr revealed that the agency will vote on rules to "unleash submarine cable investment to accelerate the buildout of AI infrastructure."

Alongside this, he notes, the FCC wants to ensure that the United States' subsea cables are secure against foreign adversaries, such as China.

The FCC stated that the action is in line with President Trump’s America First Investment Policy Memorandum: 'Guard against investment from foreign adversaries—most notably the CCP—while accelerating investment in high-tech industries of the future.'

“Submarine cables are the unsung heroes of global communications, carrying 99 percent of all Internet traffic. As the US builds out the data centers and other infrastructure necessary to lead the world in AI and next-gen technologies, these cables are more important than ever," said Carr.

"We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China. We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.”

There have been a number of incidents this year that have targeted subsea cable infrastructure.

In April, Taiwan charged a Chinese ship captain with intentionally damaging subsea cables off the island earlier this year. The Chinese-crewed Hong Tai 58 ship, registered to Togo, was detained by Taiwanese authorities after suspicions that the ship had dropped an anchor near an undersea cable off southwestern Taiwan.

Other subsea cables have been impacted too, notably in the Baltic Sea, though investigations found the incident to be accidental and not an act of sabotage.

US pushes hard against China

The US has pushed hard in recent years to have Chinese companies banned from subsea cable builds. The two countries have butted heads on numerous occasions in the past.

An example of this was China's withdrawal from the SeaMeWe-6 cable. This was due to US company SubCom being awarded a contract to build the cable, rather than Hengtong Marine, China's biggest provider in the sector. Hengtong acquired a majority stake in Huawei Marine Networks in 2019, after US sanctions forced a sale.

In 2021, a subsea cable set to connect the Pacific Island nations was scrapped after the US government warned that the involvement of Chinese companies could pose a security threat.

At the time, the World Bank-led project declined to award a contract for the East Micronesia Cable rather than let it go to Chinese cable company HMN (Huawei Marine Networks) Technologies.

Facebook (now Meta) also pulled out from the HKA project to build a submarine cable between California, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, as the US technology company felt pressure from the US.

The FCC plans will impact a number of companies on the agency's list that it deems to be a threat to national security.

One of those companies is Chinese network vendor Huawei. Huawei has been accused of espionage by the US and deemed a threat to national security for a number of years, something which the company has consistently denied.

Huawei previously sold its majority stake in its subsea unit, Huawei Marine Networks Co., Limited (HMN), to Hengtong. However, the US still has its concerns about the group, now called HMN Technology.

Once the FCC's measures are put into place, groups using restricted Chinese technology will be unable to secure FCC licenses to build or operate cables that connect to the US.

Chinese telcos, including China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile, currently own or operate subsea cables that connect to the US; however, the rule will only apply to future licenses.

The Commission is expected to approve the rule changes during a meeting set to take place on August 7.