FCC to decide whether to revoke China Unicom U.S. operating authority

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday it was launching a proceeding to decide whether to end China Unicom Americas’ authority to provide domestic interstate and international telecommunications services within the United States.

In April, the FCC issued show-cause orders warning it might shut down the U.S. operations of three state-controlled Chinese telecommunications companies: China Telecom Corp Ltd 0728.HK, China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd, and Pacific Networks Corp and its subsidiary ComNet (USA). China Unicom Americas has a nearly two-decade old authorization to provide U.S. international telecommunications services.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

((David.Shepardson@thomsonreuters.com; 2028988324;))