Appeals court rejects China Telecom bid to reverse U.S. ban

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday rejected China Telecom Corp's challenge to a U.S. Federal Communications Commission order withdrawing the company's authority to provide services in the United States.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected the bid by the U.S. arm of China Telecom to reverse the order that took effect in January. The FCC said in 2021 China Telecom (Americas) "is subject to exploitation, influence and control by the Chinese government."

In 2019, the FCC voted to deny state-owned Chinese telecom firm China Mobile Ltd the right to provide U.S. services and later withdrew U.S. authorizations for several Chinese telecom carriers.

(Reporting by David Shepardson)