FCC tightens oversight of undersea cables, targets Chinese equipment

The Federal Communications Commission voted June 25 to put submarine cable systems under tighter security review, moving the hidden wiring of the internet squarely into national-security policy. The change matters because submarine cables carry 99% of international internet traffic, along with cloud, video, financial and defense communications.

The new rules create, for the first time, a licensing requirement for owners and operators of submarine line terminal equipment, or SLTE, the hardware that links undersea cable systems to U.S. terrestrial facilities. That gives the FCC a sharper lever over the point where foreign equipment can enter the network, and it is designed to make it harder for Chinese companies to supply critical gear. The commission also said the rules support rising computing demand tied to artificial intelligence.

Brendan Carr cast the policy as a tradeoff between security and speed. “We presumptively exempt cable applications from extensive and time-consuming reviews, but only if such applicants can certify to stringent security standards and agree to ongoing oversight and monitoring,” he said. “The message is simple: adopt strong national security standards, and get a glide path to application approval.” The faster track could benefit trusted operators, including companies such as Meta and Google, as demand for new capacity keeps climbing.

The June 25 order did not come out of nowhere. The FCC had already described its 2025 submarine cable action as the first comprehensive update to cable rules in 25 years, and the earlier proceeding set comment deadlines for Nov. 26, 2025, and Dec. 26, 2025. That phase also explored whether existing licensees should be forced to remove covered equipment or services before license expiration, while the Federal Register notice sought comments on foreign-adversary restrictions and incentives for trusted U.S. and allied technologies.

The commission’s June 25 open meeting agenda labeled the item “Accelerating the Buildout of Submarine Cables,” underscoring the agency’s dual goal of tightening oversight while trying not to choke off investment. Industry analysis of the draft framework said qualifying applicants would have to meet 10 national-security conditions to avoid Team Telecom review, including limits on foreign ownership, cybersecurity controls and governance requirements. The FCC said the presumptive exemption would apply only to applicants that meet stringent standards, have operated without incident and accept continuing monitoring.

For Washington, the shift reflects a broader view that the internet’s physical backbone is now strategic infrastructure. For cable builders, it raises the stakes on ownership structures, equipment sourcing and compliance costs. It could slow some projects that rely on Chinese-made hardware, while speeding others that can clear the security bar and move into construction sooner.