FCC Expands Covered List to Include Russian Cybersecurity Firm

By Leslie Stimson, Inside Towers Washington Bureau Chief

The FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau added three more equipment and services companies to its “covered” list of communications equipment and services that have been deemed a threat to national security. They are: Russian cybersecurity and anti-virus provider AO Kaspersky Lab, and telecoms China Telecom (Americas) Corp, and China Mobile International USA Inc. Inside Towers reported the agency was looking at Russian telecoms as it prepared the list update, given Russia’s war against Ukraine. When the agency debuted the list last March, five companies were on it, Inside Towers reported. They are: telecom equipment manufacturers Huawei and ZTE, plus video surveillance and telecommunications equipment companies Hytera Communications Corporation, Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology Company and Dahua Technology Company. Continue Reading