US security officials worry that the undersea cable network, responsible for intercontinental voice and data traffic, could be compromised as Huawei further embeds itself into cable systems that ferry nearly all of the world’s internet data, said the Wall Street Journal.
Huawei Marine Networks Co., majority owned by the Chinese telecom giant, has worked on 90 projects to build and upgrade seabed fiber-optic links, competing with the US, European and Japanese firms that currently dominate the industry.
At present, there are 380 active submarine cables carrying nearly 95% of intercontinental voice and data traffic, critical for the economies and national security systems of most countries.
US officials say the company’s access to the undersea cables could allow China to sever links to entire nations or divert and monitor data traffic.