POLITICO MORNING TECH: EMERGING TELECOM THREATS COME INTO HILL VIEW

A fresh medley of threats to American communications are posing new challenges for Congress in 2025, and a House hearing on Wednesday highlighted some of the biggest issues catching lawmakers’ attention.

Internet connectivity is more central to the economy than ever before — and that also has created new fragility and potential vulnerability to disruption, whether domestically or in foreign conflicts. That’s left lawmakers with both a sense of concern and desire to help identify and close as many security gaps as they can.

A part of the challenge in addressing it is the logistical nature of the telecom infrastructure itself — some is deep below the sea, and some is up in the sky. While Congress seems far from any bigger legislative fixes, the House Energy and Commerce Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing also showcased a lot of consensus about the challenges as well as the adversaries the U.S. has to worry about (references to China in particular loomed large).

Congress scored a big security win late last year in securing $3 billion to finish ripping out and replacing Huawei and ZTE gear from U.S. telecom networks — money that rural telecom companies had sought for years in order to comply with the U.S. government’s mandate that they rid their networks of these alleged security risks.

But the security landscape is only growing thornier, witnesses told lawmakers. Tools like artificial intelligence can help both cyber attackers and defenders, and recent breaches like Salt Typhoon still loomed large throughout the discussion.

A trio of telecom security challenges dominated the session — and signaled some of the legislative ideas that may deserve a closer look this Congress.

— The problem in the seas: Lawmakers of both parties repeatedly quizzed telecom industry witnesses over how to better safeguard undersea fiber optic cables, which carry vast amounts of data around the globe and have been the subject of various acts of subterfuge. “Obviously an easy target, we understand that,” Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) lamented.

Rep. Neal Dunn (R-Fla.) warned, “It seems like anybody with a motor boat can interfere.”

David Stehlin, CEO of the Telecommunications Industry Association, told lawmakers it can take more than two months to repair a subsea cable, depending on how far from the shore it may be. He urged for more landing points and repair ships: “We need to rebuild the whole shipping side of things.”

The telecom executive also downplayed the idea that other technology like satellite could be a replacement. “The answer is more redundancy,” Stehlin told lawmakers. “We’re not going to find a way to find a more efficient and bandwidth cable technology than fiber optics.”

— The problem in the skies: Another source of bipartisan interest was the security of U.S. satellite efforts, both those providing broadband internet connectivity and those providing other critical services like GPS.

“The regulations governing satellite operations have not kept pace with the growth in the industry,” argued Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who chairs the subcommittee. “More work remains to provide clarity and more certainty in the licensing process to ensure the U.S. remains a leader in this sector.”

The Satellite Industry Association warned of China’s satellite broadband ambitions, which president Tom Stroup said will “come with backdoor security risks for China to exploit” (This is already on FCC Chair Brendan Carr’s radar, as MT reported late last year).

— The problem in our phones: Democrats used Wednesday’s hearing to criticize the Trump administration for its recent communications fumbles, such as the use of the messaging app Signal in national security conversations.

“This reckless conduct put the lives of American troops at risk,” House Energy and Commerce ranking member Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) said. “If any adversary got access to these messages, they could have shut down, or they could have shot down American planes or targeted American ships.”

Some also lamented DOGE employees’ handling of Americans’ personal data, suggesting risks and lack of proper safeguards.

While witnesses agreed that apps like Signal should not be used for sensitive government communications, some argued there need to be better ways to allow for real-time communication than retreating to a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility.

“We’ve got to give our senior leaders and our government officials a way to communicate that works on the fly, on the run, that doesn’t force them to go into a room and hide out,” National Security Institute executive director Jamil Jaffer told lawmakers.

— So how are we fixing all this? Lawmakers floated various legislative ideas that may at least marginally help confront these various challenges.

Pallone touted legislation that would expand the list of companies added to the FCC’s covered list of threats. Rep. Doris Matsui (D-Calif.), the subcommittee’s top Democrat, mentioned the bipartisan telecom legislation that passed the House earlier in the week, which included multiple measures dealing with security such as her Future Networks Act, which would create an FCC task force dealing with 6G wireless.

Rep. John Joyce (R-Pa.) promoted his bipartisan legislation that would call for the Commerce Department to evaluate ways to to safeguard the U.S. telecom supply chain. Carter, meanwhile, mentioned his legislation to expedite the permitting process for cables.

“We need to get more cables deployed as quickly as possible,” Carter said.

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