FCC Launches Major Crackdown on Chinese Telecom Gear

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr says his agency has removed millions of listings from leading e-commerce and online retailers of telecommunications equipment made by Chinese companies deemed national security risks.

The effort, dubbed "Operation Clean Carts," comes one month after the FCC moved to block foreign-controlled testing laboratories — particularly those linked to the Chinese government — from certifying new electronic devices for use in the U.S.

"The Communist Party of China is engaged in a multi-prong effort to insert insecure devices into Americans' homes & businesses," Carr said in a post on X announcing the effort.

"Today, I am announcing the initial success of 'Operation Clean Carts.'"

"This new FCC effort has resulted in millions of listings for prohibited Covered List devices — including certain Huawei and ZTE gear — being removed from leading e-commerce and online retailers," he said.

"I expect all online retailers to comply with the federal prohibition on the marketing and sale of insecure Covered List items. And I appreciate the new procedures that sites are putting in place to identify and remove listings for prohibited gear," added Carr.

The FCC is set to vote this month to tighten restrictions on telecommunications equipment made by Chinese companies deemed national security risks, the latest in a series of U.S. actions targeting Beijing.

The U.S. telecom regulator previously named companies including Huawei Technologies, ZTE, Hangzhou Hikvision, China Mobile, and China Telecom to the so-called "Covered List," which bars the FCC from authorizing for import or sale new equipment from those companies.

In March, the FCC said it was investigating nine Chinese companies on the list, including Huawei and ZTE, as well as Hytera Communications, Dahua Technology Company, Pacifica Networks/ComNet, and China Unicom.

The FCC previously barred some Chinese companies from providing telecommunications services in the United States, citing national security concerns.

Carr said earlier the FCC has reason to believe some or all of the Chinese firms on the list "are trying to make an end run around those FCC prohibitions by continuing to do business in America on a private or 'unregulated' basis."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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