We feel compelled to set the record straight on a story that ran on Tucker Carlson Tonight on Feb. 24. The story was about the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Entity List which governs trade activities sanctioned by the U.S. government. Unfortunately, the story that aired was misleading and failed to represent all the facts about the role AT&T plays in serving the telecommunications needs of American companies that operate around the world. Below is the on-the-record statement we provided in advance, which they did not include in their story. We are sharing here our statement and encourage you to read it:
“Some of America’s largest employers are our customers and they depend on our services to communicate around the globe. In providing those services, we comply with all U.S. laws and the laws of the countries where we operate. Without a relationship with a licensed Chinese communications company, no non-Chinese provider can serve U.S. companies operating in China. In the absence of that, such support would be provided by a Chinese state-owned enterprise instead of AT&T or any other American company.
“We and other companies explained this to the Commerce Department and other government officials to inform their policy decision about potential unintended consequences of placing China Telecom on the entities list.
“As a leading American company with a long history of innovation, we are proud to have one of America’s largest workforces, and of the fact that in the last five years we’ve invested more than any other public company into the U.S. economy.”
We provide network services to U.S. based companies operating in China
- We handle technical network functions to service our customers.
- The primary customers are hundreds of U.S. based companies operating in China.
Entity List
- By law in China, without a relationship with a licensed Chinese communications company, AT&T (or any other non-Chinese carrier) cannot fulfill its obligation to support our US based clients operating in China.
- In the absence of that, such support would be provided by a Chinese state-owned enterprise instead of AT&T or any other American company.
