U.S. security agencies want another Chinese mobile firm kicked out of the states

Almost every Chinese company in the mobile industry is looked at suspiciously by the U.S. government. Huawei and ZTE, both of which produce phones and networking equipment, are considered national security threats in the U.S. That's because both firms have ties to the communist Chinese government and the fear in the states is that these companies add back doors to their products that secretly collect information and send it to Beijing. Both companies have denied this and no back door has ever been found in any Huawei or ZTE product.
U.S. agencies cite ties between China Telecom and the communist Chinese government
Bloomberg reports that U.S. security agencies want the FCC to ban China Telecom from operating in the states. The wireless operator is the second largest in China with 336 million subscribers and in the U.S. it offers companies secure bandwidth to transmit highly sensitive data under the CTExcel name. The latter is headquartered in Herndon, Virginia and has offices in New York, Los Angeles and other cities in the country. Monthly plans start at $19 and include a free SIM card. Depending on the plan, subscribers get a certain amount of 4G LTE data; once that data cap is surpassed, the account still has unlimited data although it is at a lower data speed.
CTExcel subscribers also get dual phone numbers (one in China, one in the U.S.) and the web site states that these accounts offer "Unlimited free international call to Peoples Republic of China (including HK, Taiwan, and Macau), Canada, Mexico, India, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand, England, France, Germany, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Laos, and Russ. The website can be accessed right here.
Of course, the Chinese are not pleased. According to Reuters, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said that the U.S. needs to stop politicizing commercial matters. The spokesman said, "We urge the United States to respect market economy principles, to cease its mistaken practices of generalizing national security and politicizing economic issues, and to cease unjustifiable oppression of Chinese companies."
As you might expect, China Telecom has denied these claims. A China Telecom representative named Ge Yu stated, "The company has always been extremely cooperative and transparent with regulators. In many instances, we have gone beyond what has been requested to demonstrate how our business operates and serves our customers following the highest international standards."
Since 2007, China Telecom has had authorization to conduct business in the U.S. market. Last year, China Mobile sought FCC permission to act as a reseller of wireless service connecting U.S. customers and international wireless users. Not surprisingly, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai opposed the application.