The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted new rules to support the expansion of subsea cables while addressing potential security threats from foreign countries, including China.
Subsea cables deliver nearly 99% of global Internet traffic and are critical to supporting growth in AI, among other technologies, said the FCC in a statement (PDF). The new rules will accelerate the process of building cables by simplifying the cable licensing process and providing more certainty to investors, the department added. In addition, the rules aim to protect against cybersecurity and physical threats from foreign entities.
“We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.”
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