Hong Kong telecom company agrees to halt US operations under pressure

HKT, a leading Hong Kong telecom carrier ​and subsidiary of PCCW Ltd, on ‌Friday agreed ​to halt its operations in the United States under pressure from the Federal Communications Commission. The FCC in October 2025 said it was moving to revoke the authority ‌of HKT to operate in the United States, citing national security concerns and its affiliation with China Unicom , which is a shareholder in PCCW. Under a consent decree seen by Reuters, HKT has agreed to stop international and domestic telecom services ‌to and within the United States within 30 days.

PCCW did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The ‌agreement means the FCC will not move forward with the revocation proceeding that could have offered more details on Washington's national security concerns.

The FCC has previously barred China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom from providing international telecommunications services to the United States, citing broad national security concerns. The Trump ⁠administration has ​continued an extensive crackdown on Chinese ⁠telecoms over the past year. The FCC on Thursday voted to ban all Chinese labs from testing US electronics in December 2028.

The telecom ⁠crackdown has sparked a strong reaction from Beijing. China said Friday it firmly opposes the FCC action on labs, warning it would take ​necessary countermeasures "if the US side persists in acting unilaterally." The FCC also announced Thursday it plans to soon ⁠ban Chinese telecom firms from direct access to US phone numbers on national security grounds. The plan would bar Chinese IP-enabled service providers from direct access ⁠and ​bar IP-enabled service providers that use equipment from companies on the FCC's list that pose national security risks, including Huawei or ZTE .

Other measures under consideration by the FCC include barring them from connecting to US networks and ⁠from operating their data centers in the US. Concerns about the potential for spying and other harms to arise from Chinese access ⁠to US telecom data ⁠and infrastructure have grown in recent years.

In late 2024, Washington said a Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage group known as Salt Typhoon stole consumers' call records, US call data and infiltrated ‌US telecommunications and telecom ‌infrastructure firms. China has consistently denied any wrongdoing.