FCC votes to toughen rules in bid to better protect undersea cables The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Thursday voted to beef up oversight of undersea submarine cables that host nearly all internet traffic, saying they will block Chinese firms from selling related products and will allow the agency to quickly greenlight approvals for tech firms headquartered in the U.S. which meet certain conditions. In an unprecedented move, the FCC also said it plans to mandate that owners and operators of submarine line terminal equipment (SLTE) be licensed. SLTE plays the most important role in the submarine cable system by connecting it to U.S. terrestrial facilities. The SLTE licensing requirement will ensure FCC oversight of one of the most vulnerable parts of the submarine cable…