China Telecom, Government Disagree on Whether Court Should Unseal Opinion

China Telecom Americas urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit not to unseal parts of a decision last year by the court upholding the FCC's revocation of the company’s domestic and international authorities (see 2111150025). “Certain specific portions of the Opinion would harm China Telecom Americas if made public and should remain under seal,” said a filing Friday in docket 21-1233. “If now unsealed, the Opinion would reveal confidential and sensitive information that would cause China Telecom Americas significant harm to its business interests, and would not serve the public interest,” the company said. The U.S. government disagreed. “The Government sees no compelling reason why the Court’s opinion in this case should not be unsealed,” the U.S. said, also Friday. “While some of the statements at issue derive in part from information that China Telecom requested to keep confidential in its FCC filings, and that the FCC then treated as confidential at the company’s request, the Government at this time sees no compelling reason why any of the statements identified by China Telecom need to be redacted from the Court’s opinion,” the government said.