US to ban Chinese telecom firms from access to US phone numbers

The United States plans to ban Chinese telecom firms from from direct access to US phone numbers on national security grounds, a measure designed to prevent scam-related robocalls.

The US Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it will vote on November 19 on a proposal to ban China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom and other IP-enabled service providers

from direct access.

For telecom firms providing Voice over Internet Protocol - technology that converts voice into digital data and transmits it over broadband connections -

direct access is a much cheaper option and makes it easier to offer advanced features.

The Chinese Embassy did not immediately comment.

The FCC also said it plans to bar IP-enabled service providers that use equipment from companies on the FCC list that pose national security risks, including Huawei or ZTE.

Addressing this latest decision from FCC, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the US has overstretched the concept of national security and

abused state power to unreasonably suppress Chinese companies.