[Updated 2022.3] China Unicom Americas’ service end date is April 3, 2022. The company officially recommends porting out by March 31 if possible, and avoiding waiting until the last day. Number transfers have a pending period, so if you wait until April 3 to port out, it may be too late. Recommended transfer option:
[Original news brief below]
According to Reuters and the FCC, the US Federal Communications Commission voted today to revoke China Unicom Americas’ operating authorization. This means China Unicom Americas must stop providing service in the United States within 60 days. In fact, China Unicom Americas has not been adding new customers for quite a while, and its current users are mostly existing subscribers. The FCC’s stated reason is the usual national security argument; in the end, whether something is considered secure is up to the US government. Anything with ties to China tends to attract extra attention.
Previously, China Telecom Americas had already lost its authorization. If you’re wondering when China Mobile was shut out, the answer is that its 2019 application to provide US telecom service was never approved in the first place.
Quite a few Chinese users may still be using their service. It’s not yet clear what will happen to those customers, though I would guess a US carrier may take over this customer base. As for any remaining prepaid balance, it’s unclear how that will be handled; the best-case scenario would be refunds. If you already have a carrier in mind, you can also port your number out directly.
If you want affordable wireless service for the long term, we recommend: