Team Telecom

The Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector, commonly called Team Telecom, is the United States interagency committee formalised by Executive Order 13913 in 2020. It reviews national-security and law-enforcement risks arising from foreign participation in applications and licences before the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Membership and process

The Attorney General chairs the Committee. The Secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security are members, with other departments serving as advisers under the order. Department of Defense is preserved as an official United States name. Committee staff analyse ownership, network architecture, data access, supply chains and other risks relevant to telecommunications services.

The FCC refers covered matters for executive-branch review. The Committee can recommend grant, denial, conditions or modification, and can negotiate mitigation arrangements. It can also review existing licences. A recommendation is not the final FCC act. The FCC retains licensing authority and decides whether to grant, deny, revoke or condition a licence.

Team Telecom is distinct from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and the Treasury Office of Investment Security. CFIUS reviews covered investment transactions under separate law. Telecommunications review can overlap with Undersea-cable and data-routing control or 5G telecommunications infrastructure and high-risk vendor controls, but each application requires its own record.

Assessment

Screening can protect data, network resilience and lawful access. Mitigation may preserve market entry while addressing risk; denial or revocation is more restrictive. The Committee's current membership and public actions were checked through 30 July 2026. Workload counts from budget submissions are reporting-period figures, not evidence that each recommendation caused a security outcome.

See also

Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) · Undersea-cable and data-routing control · 5G telecommunications infrastructure and high-risk vendor controls · Treasury Office of Investment Security · Economic statecraft

Sources

• United States Department of Justice, Team Telecom (accessed 30 July 2026).
• Executive Order 13913 (accessed 30 July 2026).
• Department of Justice, public Team Telecom actions (accessed 30 July 2026).
• Federal Communications Commission, executive-branch review reform (accessed 30 July 2026).