The Federal Communications Commission said on June 3 it intends to tighten supervision of submarine communications cables that handle roughly 99% of international internet traffic. The agency outlined a set of proposed rules aimed at making it harder for Chinese companies to supply equipment and at accelerating approval for trusted U.S. technology providers.
Central to the FCC proposal is a plan to require licenses for operators of submarine line terminal equipment. Those units perform the most critical function within a submarine cable system by linking the undersea network to U.S. terrestrial facilities. The licensing requirement would be introduced for the first time, according to the FCC announcement.
The agency said the new framework will include a fast-track approval process for companies that meet stringent national security and data security standards. To qualify for expedited treatment, cable operators would need to take steps to prevent espionage and other security incidents, monitor compliance closely, and agree not to use foreign equipment that could present security risks.
U.S. technology companies that operate undersea cables are likely to be among the beneficiaries of the revised review process. The FCC specifically noted that firms such as Meta, the parent company of Facebook, and Google are well positioned to obtain quicker approvals to operate additional undersea cable systems to manage increasing internet traffic.
Last year the FCC barred the use of equipment or services in undersea cable facilities from a list of companies it deemed threats to U.S. national security. That lineup included Huawei, ZTE, China Telecom and China Mobile. The proposed rules are expected to broaden that restriction further, extending the ban to equipment originating from China or any other foreign adversary in submarine cable systems.
The move follows an extended period of concern within U.S. government circles. For more than a year, officials have raised alarms about the global network of more than 400 subsea cables that carry nearly all international internet traffic, and have cited potential threats from China and Russia.
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Jim Risch in April called for stepped-up efforts to address national security vulnerabilities tied to submarine cables. Risch said the United States should name perpetrators when sabotage occurs, pursue an international campaign to boost the resiliency of undersea infrastructure, and work to prevent or mitigate the impacts of attacks when they take place.
The FCC action also echoes earlier concerns voiced by the Justice Department in 2021, which said national security agreements with Google and Meta were necessary given China s efforts to acquire sensitive personal data of millions of U.S. persons. The proposed licensing, equipment restrictions and fast-track review are designed to address those kinds of national security and data protection issues.
Regulators will need to finalize the text of the new rules and outline how the licensing and fast-track mechanisms will operate in practice. Until then, the FCC plan represents a significant regulatory shift intended to limit the role of firms deemed security risks and to favor U.S.-based technology operators in the undersea cable market.