Huawei Has Called the FCC’s Ban ‘Unlawful’

According to Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) ban against the company is “unlawful.”

Huawei has asked a U.S. court this week to overturn the (FCC) ruling that bans carriers from using federal funds to purchase equipment from Huawei and rival ZTE.

Huawei’s petition for review was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in Louisiana, and argues the FCC order “exceeds” the agency’s “statutory authority and violates federal law, the Constitution, and other laws.”

The company’s Chief Legal Officer Song Liuping said the FCC’s ruling fails to solve “any cyber security challenges.”

Speaking at a press conference at Huawei’s headquarters in Shenzhen China, he said, “If the FCC is truly worried about the security of telecom supply chain, then equipment made in China, by any vendor should also have the same risk as us,” Liuping said. “Not only Huawei and ZTE, but also Nokia and Ericsson.”

It was in November that the FCC voted to ban carriers from using the $8.5 billion a year Universal Service Fund to purchase equipment and services from companies that pose a national security threat, including Huawei and ZTE under that designation.

“Even if [the FCC] has the authority to make these national security designations, they went about it in a way that violates our due process rights and is fundamentally unfair,” said Michael Carvin, Partner with Jones Day, the law firm that is representing Huawei. “They gave us no notice that we will be singled out in the notice of proposed rulemaking. They gave us no opportunity to present the facts…and they didn’t give any reason, and there is no rational reason why these two companies are singled out.”