Washington:
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Thursday it is investigating whether the use of Russian and Chinese foreign satellite systems by U.S. cellphones and other devices poses a security threat.
The FCC is concerned that U.S. handheld devices are receiving and processing Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals from satellites controlled by foreign adversaries, in violation of commission rules.
The FCC is seeking answers from mobile phone manufacturers such as Apple, Google, Motorola, Nokia, and Samsung, which together cover more than 90% of the U.S. smartphone market.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“There is no established record of what security threats, if any, these signals carry and whether handheld device manufacturers handle these signals in violation of the commission’s rules,” an FCC spokesman said.
Rep. Mike Gallagher, chairman of the House Select Committee on China, wrote to FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel earlier this week regarding concerns that the U.S. Reports that mobile phones are receiving and processing signals from Chinese and Russian satellites have raised concerns.
The FCC only approves U.S. cell phone receivers to receive and process signals from the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS), and only the European Galileo GNSS. Gallagher said U.S. equipment is receiving signals from China’s Beidou and Russia’s GLONASS global navigation satellite system constellations.
Gallagher said: “Current events in Eastern Europe, including significant Russian jamming and spoofing of GNSS signals, call into question the wisdom of accepting this solution and demonstrate the FCC’s commitment to enforcing its ban on the use of unintended satellites originating from foreign satellites. Rules for authorized signals are crucial.”
Rosenworcel raised concerns in 2018 that U.S. phones were equipped with chips designed to operate with other countries’ global navigation satellite systems. “Many devices in the United States are already operating on foreign signals,” she said in 2018.
The FCC wants to know “whether their devices comply with FCC rules and what vulnerabilities may exist in the way they handle GNSS signals.”
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
