Robert Besser
06 Dec 2022, 06:13 GMT+10
WASHINGTON D.C.: A U.S. government committee has urged the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to deny an application to connect Cuba to the U.S. through a new undersea cable handling internet, voice and data traffic.
According to the Justice Department-led panel, known as "Team Telecom," the proposal raised national security concerns because the cable-landing system in Cuba would be owned and controlled by Empresa de Telecommunicaciones de Cuba S.A., Cuba's state-owned telecommunications monopoly.
The U.S. government has been recently reviewing undersea cable connections, especially those involving China.
Forming the backbone of the internet, some 300 subsea cables carry 99 percent of the world's data traffic.
Team Telecom said Cuba "could access sensitive U.S. data traversing the new cable segment," and an FCC spokesman said the agency is reviewing the recommendations.
The existing ARCOS-1 submarine cable system, which connects the U.S. with 14 countries in the Caribbean, Central America and South America, is planned to be expanded to a landing station in Cojimar, Cuba.
ARCOS-1 USA cited a 2019 State Department Cuba Internet Task Force that "recommended enabling the construction of new submarine cables to Cuba."
In a 2021 filing with the FCC, it also said that the cable would "increase the means through which Cubans on the island can communicate with the United States and the rest of the world."
While it supports the "Cuban people's access to an open, interoperable, secure, and reliable internet," the proposal poses "unacceptable risks to U.S. national security," Team Telecom said.
FCC Commissioner Geoffrey Starks has called for enhanced scrutiny covering undersea cables in 2020.
Get a daily dose of Vietnam Tribune news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Vietnam Tribune.
More InformationISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman and Foreign Minister, said Saturday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ...
KAREN STATE, Myanmar - According to local sources and media reports, several junta offices in Karen State's Payathonzu town burned ...
KATHMANDU, Nepal - The search for one of the 72 people killed in the Pokhara plane crash is continuing, according ...
DHAKA, Bangladesh - On Friday, authorities claimed to have apprehended a top leader of the banned militant group Harkat-ul-Jihad-al Islami ...
Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh)[India], February 1 (ANI): The story of the Karnal-based Haryana archer Riddhi, who is going to participate in ...
Naypyidaw [Myanmar], February 1 (ANI): Myanmar's military junta is selling Rakhine's natural gas to China and it has sold over ...
MANILA, Philippines: In an effort to attract more tourists, President Ferdinand Marcos has approved a value-added tax refund program for ...
TRIPOLI, Libya: Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni held talks on energy and migration in Libya this weekend, which are major ...
MIAMI, Florida: This decade, the US south is expected to see more new residents than any other region in the ...
NEW YORK CITY, New York: After reporting record revenues in the fourth-quarter of 2022, US airlines expect strong travel demand ...
MANILA, Philippines: After a Filipina domestic worker was killed and dumped in the desert in the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait, ...
LONG BEACH, California: Long Beach, California-based Rocket Lab has launched its first mission from the United States, as part of ...