US national security officials are considering a recommendation that would deny a licence to China Mobile to offer international services to American customers. China Mobile applied for the licence with the FCC in October last year. However, officials from the FBI, Homeland Security, and the Justice Department are concerned that such a licence would give the company access to physical infrastructure and internet traffic that might allow China to spy more easily on the US government and steal intellectual property, The Los Angeles Times reports citing unnamed sources familiar with the process. The security officials review FCC applications by foreign-owned companies and could recommend that the FCC not issue the licence or could ask for a signed agreement to address security concerns. Meanwhile, China Mobile's rivals China Telecom and China Unicom, were granted similar licences in 2002 and 2003 before cyber espionage from China was considered an important concern.
