The Federal Communications Commission has yet to complete its review of the proposed merger of Standard General and Tegna, but the deal has gotten the OK from “team telecom.”

That is the informal title of the interagency committee that reviews deals involving foreign participation in the U.S. communications market for national security and law enforcement concerns, if any.

Tegna, which owns 64 TV stations in 51 U.S. markets, agreed to be acquired by Standard General in February for $8.6 billion including debt. Tegna also owns multicast networks True Crime Network, Twist and Quest, as well as advanced-advertising company Premion.

The foreign ownership review is needed because slightly under half of the equity in Standard General is held through three Cayman Islands investment funds and one British Virgin Islands investment fund, though those funds are controlled by U.S. citizens.

The FCC allows up to 100% foreign ownership on a case-by-case basis, with at least a 25% foreign ownership stake triggering heightened scrutiny, including a team telecom review.

There were no such concerns, according to a letter informing the chief of the FCC's International Bureau, Tom Sullivan, that the Committee for the Assessment of Foreign Participation in the United States Telecommunications Services Sector (the aforementioned “team telecom”) had reviewed the deal application and had “no objection” to the FCC granting the merger, though on the other hand it was providing no recommendation one way of the other.

The committee reserves the right to review its decision if any risks to national security or law inforcement interests arise.

The FCC is currently on day 211 of its informal 180-day shot clock on reviewing mergers. ▪️

Team Telecom, the government entity that vets foreign participation in U.S. communications networks for possible national security issues, has signaled it is serious about wanting the FCC to refuse requests for direct subset cable connections between the U.S. and China. 

It has recommended that the FCC deny Pacific Light Cable Network's application (PCLN) for what would be the first such connection between the U.S. and Hong Kong. There are other similar applications that Team Telecom has suggested raise similar issues. 

Related: Senate Says FCC Needs Foreign Telecom Review Standards 

But it did say the FCC could approve PCLN connections between the U.S. and Taiwan and the U.S. and the Philippines, which sections of the PCLN network would be operated by subsidiaries of Google and Facebook, respectively. 

The Justice Department back in April signaled that it would not oppose the request by Google, through its GU Holdings, based on a Provisional National Security Agreement that includes notice obligations, security guarantees and reporting duties, among others. Google has committed to diversify interconnection points in Asia and deliver traffic as close to its ultimate destination "as is practicable."  

Team Telecom said the PCLN direct connection to Hong Kong raised national security concerns given PCLN's relationship with the Chinese government's intelligence and security services, given that subsea fiber optic cables are the "backbone" of global delivery of internet, voice and data, and given that "PLCN’s high capacity and low latency would encourage U.S. communications traffic crossing the Pacific to detour through Hong Kong before reaching intended destinations in other parts of the Asia Pacific region." 

It said it was not in the U.S.'s security interest to approve cable landing in China when the government has demonstrated the intent to acquire personal data from U.S. persons. 

The Team Telecom review committee comprises members from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division's Foreign Investment Review Section, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Defense. 

Back in April, Team Telecom recommended that the FCC revoke China Telecom's authorizations to provide telecom service in the U.S. based on similar national security concerns. The FCC denied the authorization last month. 

Critics of the old "Team Telecom" review process--FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly notable among them--can break out the bubbly.  

The Justice Department, on behalf of itself, and the Defense and Homeland Security Departments, said Wednesday (April 8) that they will not oppose Google's FCC application temporarily to operate a subset cable between the U.S. and Taiwan, but has conditioned its support on various security and reporting guarantees. They said that without those conditions "a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would pose an unacceptable risk to the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States." 

According to Justice, it will be the last advisory under the legacy "Team Telecom," ad hoc, government national security review. That has been replaced by a new, high-level Executive Branch review by committee of FCC license applications. The review is of foreign participation in U.S. networks and whether granting a license would be a national security threat. That new committee was established by Executive Order of the President April 4.  

Google said it was applying for the special temporary authority to meet the current international demand for traffic, a worldwide demand fueled by the current pandemic. 

If the FCC approves, Google will get a temporary license to operate a portion of the Pacific Light Cable Network system connecting the U.S. with Taiwan for six months. But that is only long as the FCC requires Google to adhere to certain obligations.  

Google (through its GU Holdings) and the agencies agreed Wednesday (April 8) on a Provisional National Security Agreement that includes notice obligations, security guarantees and reporting duties, among others. Google has committed to diversify interconnection points in Asia and deliver traffic as close to its ultimate destination "as is practicable." 

Republican FCC commissioner Michael O'Rielly is a big fan of President Trump's executive order (EO) creating a top Administration official committee to review foreign applications for FCC telecom licenses. 

The President released the order over the weekend, essentially adding a new layer of oversight on the government's historic "Team Telecom" national security reviews of foreign ownership applications, but one that puts shot clocks on the process.

Related: FCC Denies China Mobile Interconnect 

“I am exceptionally pleased by President Trump’s release of an Executive Order setting forth official procedures for administrative agencies to review and comment on FCC applications involving foreign ownership of communications companies, previously referred to as ‘Team Telecom,’" O'Rielly wrote in a statement on the order. 

"While all of our hearts and minds are properly focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, this EO will facilitate acceptable investment of foreign capital in the communications sector to help jump start the industry and our economy, when that time comes." 

O'Rielly has long been a critic of the team telecom review process, which he calls unpredictable and indefensible, and which he said reached new heights of dysfunction under President Obama. 

O'Rielly has been particularly critical of the delays in the process. In May 2019 he pointed to one team telecom review that took seven years, a delay he said was not fair to the company and needed to change. He said at that time that such reviews should themselves be reviewed and improved, something the Executive Order pledges to do.  

 According to a spokesperson for O'Rielly, "our expectation would be that formalizing the process should effectively speed things up because there’s a limited timeframe in which to make decisions, and therefore agencies will have to engage in the process more actively to meet the deadlines and won’t have the discretion to sit on an application indefinitely." 

The commissioner called on FCC chairman Ajit Pai to integrate the order into FCC reviews ASAP.  

The chairman said Monday (April 6) that now that the order has been issued, "the FCC will move forward to conclude our own pending rulemaking on reform of the foreign ownership review process."