A US-based subsidiary of China Telecom reportedly attempted to save its operations in the country by asking a domestic court to revert a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) order seeking to revoke the company’s rights to conduct business in the country.

Reuters reported the operator pressed an appeals court over the matter and had stated it needs to inform its customers of a final decision regarding its fate by 4 December.

The FCC moved against the US unit of the operator on 26 October, taking a decision to annul its right to offer domestic and international telecoms services within 60 days over an inability to “rebut the serious concerns” it had over national security stemming from the company allegedly being linked to the Chinese government.

China Telecom’s appeal adds to a recent move by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which reportedly asked the US authority to annul its decision to revoke the company’s licence as it was based on subjective speculation.

The operator received authorisation to operate in the US in 2002.

The FCC’s decision to invalidate China Telecom’s licence comes after it gave it and China Unicom an ultimatum to prove the harmlessness of their operations. However nearly a year after, it began a process to revoke the latter’s authorisation to operate in the US after remaining unconvinced of the company’s independence from Chinese authorities.