U.S. Government 'Considering' Creation of Nationwide 5G Network [Updated]

[MacRumors]

The United States federal government is said to be looking to build a centralized 5G wireless network across the country within three years, according to a sensitive PowerPoint presentation and a memo obtained by Axios.

The documents said that the Trump administration is considering a federal "takeover" of a portion of the country's mobile network to "guard against China" and hopes to finalize the details before September.

Today telecommunications companies like AT&T build their own systems using their own equipment and lease airwaves from the government, but now the U.S. is reportedly looking into paying for and building a 5G network and would "rent access to carriers." The plans were said to have been recently presented to senior officials in the administration, and if agreed upon by September will see a rollout over the next three years.

Trump national security officials are considering an unprecedented federal takeover of a portion of the nation's mobile network to guard against China, according to sensitive documents obtained by Axios.

The PowerPoint presentation says that the U.S. has to build superfast 5G wireless technology quickly because "China has achieved a dominant position in the manufacture and operation of network infrastructure," and "China is the dominant malicious actor in the Information Domain." To illustrate the current state of U.S. wireless networks, the PowerPoint uses a picture of a medieval walled city, compared to a future represented by a photo of lower Manhattan.

The government is trying to accelerate development of a 5G network as a way to defend against China, and hopes to create a "new paradigm" for the wireless industry before the end of President Trump's current term. Although the documents are said to be focused on "Chinese threats to America's economic and cyber security," they also mention that a nationwide 5G network would help foster emerging technologies like self-driving cars and virtual reality. According to one administration official speaking to Bloomberg, the "takeover" terminology is "not part of the administration's thinking."

Outside of this news, most of the major U.S. mobile carriers like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile have already begun their move towards true 5G networks. AT&T most recently said it plans to launch a mobile 5G network in a dozen cities by the end of 2018, while Sprint mentioned its own wide-scale 5G network will launch by 2019, and T-Mobile is aiming for nationwide 5G coverage by 2020. The first iPhone that could support 5G is believed to be coming through a partnership between Apple and Intel.

Update: FCC chairman Ajit Pai released a statement opposing the creation of a government-run 5G network, shared by The Verge.

"I oppose any proposal for the federal government to build and operate a nationwide 5G network. The main lesson to draw from the wireless sector's development over the past three decades--including American leadership in 4G--is that the market, not government, is best positioned to drive innovation and investment. What government can and should do is to push spectrum into the commercial marketplace and set rules that encourage the private sector to develop and deploy next-generation infrastructure. Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help the United States win the 5G future."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: U.S. Government 'Considering' Creation of Nationwide 5G Network [Updated]

 

[samcraig]

Anyone else concerned over privacy issues here if this were to happen?

 

[Tmelon]

Anyone else concerned over privacy issues here if this were to happen?

Absolutely. Although it’s not as if we have privacy from the government on any other network.

 

[0815]

Anyone else concerned over privacy issues here if this were to happen?

not at all - why should anybody concerned that the government can easily access, monitor and control any cellular traffic without going to uncooperative companies to get the data? WiFi is next on the list. Only government installed routers will be allowed. And while we are at it: it is unacceptable that some companies build secure cell phones that the government can't access - only government issued devices should be allowed - maybe easy access to the cell phone could be a requirement to get access to the new 5G network?




/s

 

[djeeyore25]

The government that can't unlock an iPhone is going to build a 5G network. Brilliant.

 

[DipDog3]

On first glance, it looks like a handout to the telecom industry.

 

[cmChimera]

Anyone else concerned over privacy issues here if this were to happen?

Uh hell yes.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

On first glance, it looks like a handout to the telecom industry.

I wonder if they would truly see it that way. They would no longer own the pipe, just the ability to get on and go through the pipe. While that saves on infrastructure cost, it also allows almost anyone to start a wireless company. They will lose a ton of leverage.
[doublepost=1517233115][/doublepost]

Anyone else concerned over privacy issues here if this were to happen?

How could we not?

 

[oldhifi]

Is it going to be another lie like this:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/al-gores-new-phone-tax/article/10146

 

[Blackstick]

This administration has been superbly incompetent thus far besides brute forcing a justice that they stole from the previous administration. Nothing will get done in three years, and by 2020 we’ll be under new management.

 

[69Mustang]

The government that can't unlock an iPhone is going to build a 5G network. Brilliant.

The government that publicly proclaims they can't unlock an iPhone is going to build a 5G network. Brilliant.
They protest far too loudly and way too often "woe is me. I can't get into a phone".

I believe them.

 

[0815]

On first glance, it looks like a handout to the telecom industry.

not really. They would loose 'control over the network and would have to pay for access and some companies will loos their competitive advantage of 'owning' the the 'better' network (they could no longer claim to have the better network, no matter which made up metric they use to measure it since all will be on the same)

 

[iapplelove]

Anyone else concerned over privacy issues here if this were to happen?

Nope not me. If you’re online or chose to live a digital lifestyle there already is no such thing as privacy. It’s a falsehood.

Assume it all already.

 

[adamjackson]

I'm not even sure how to react to this news. Pick your poison, corporations tracking us or the government tracking us. Guess I'll keep using VPN on all of my devices.

 

[samcraig]

Nope not me. If you’re online or chose to live a digital lifestyle there already is no such thing as privacy. It’s a falsehood.

Assume it all already.

There's a difference though between access and unfettered access.

 

[PG(Austin)]

Perfect! Because you know when the government takes something over it becomes more secure and becomes more efficient. Can we expect infrastructure collapse like the rest of the nations "network" of roads?

My guess is this will be like the Obama claim that they would bring high speed internet access to rural areas....it'll never happen. It's been a year and they don't even have an immigration bill passed, do we really think they can get THIS done? No way....

 

[laz232]

not at all - why should anybody concerned that the government can easily access, monitor and control any cellular traffic without going to uncooperative companies to get the data? WiFi is next on the list. Only government installed routers will be allowed. And while we are at it: it is unacceptable that some companies build secure cell phones that the government can't access - only government issued devices should be allowed - maybe easy access to the cell phone could be a requirement to get access to the new 5G network?
/s

It's not like AT&T are not providing all the information access anyway.

Actually if it's government owned I would say there are probably *more* restrictions and laws than if privately owned.
Also w.r.t. right to selling of customer data, FOIA requests etc.

 

[ineedamac]

Fantastic. What will happen when there is another shutdown? Will the 5G network be shutdown as well?

 

[Hoosier317]

...yet Republicans will continue to campaign on a “promise” of a smaller, less intrusive government. Trump voters will believe them.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I'm not even sure how to react to this news. Pick your poison, corporations tracking us or the government tracking us. Guess I'll keep using VPN on all of my devices.

Until the government makes it illegal on their network to use VPNs.

 

[DakotaGuy]

I would think many liberals would love this because it brings us one step closer to nationalizing industries and communication services. They will claim it takes profiteering out of services and lowers costs. Some also claim we need to do this to electricity as well. The idea of nationalizing industries is one of the pillars of socialism. It's funny that Trump is touting it. I’m not in favor of this at all for many reasons, but I’d think it would get support from many on the left.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

...yet Republicans will continue to campaign on a “promise” of a smaller, less intrusive government. Trump voters will believe them.

This is what bothers me about both parties. Both say they will spend less and help with the deficit. Instead they spend their time choosing which part of the government to grow.

 

[KPOM]

The United States federal government is said to be looking to build a centralized 5G wireless network across the country within three years, according to a sensitive PowerPoint presentation and a memo obtained by Axios.

The documents said that the Trump administration is considering a federal "takeover" of a portion of the country's mobile network to "guard against China" and hopes to finalize the details before September.

Today telecommunications companies like AT&T build their own systems using their own equipment and lease airwaves from the government, but now the U.S. is reportedly looking into paying for and building a 5G network and would "rent access to carriers." The plans were said to have been recently presented to senior officials in the administration, and if agreed upon by September will see a rollout over the next three years.
The government is trying to accelerate development of a 5G network as a way to defend against China, and hopes to create a "new paradigm" for the wireless industry before the end of President Trump's current term. Although the documents are said to be focused on "Chinese threats to America's economic and cyber security," they also mention that a nationwide 5G network would help foster emerging technologies like self-driving cars and virtual reality. According to one administration official speaking to Bloomberg, the "takeover" terminology is "not part of the administration's thinking."

Outside of this news, most of the major U.S. mobile carriers like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile have already begun their move towards true 5G networks. AT&T most recently said it plans to launch a mobile 5G network in a dozen cities by the end of 2018, while Sprint mentioned its own wide-scale 5G network will launch by 2019, and T-Mobile is aiming for nationwide 5G coverage by 2020. The first iPhone that could support 5G is believed to be coming through a partnership between Apple and Intel.

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Article Link: U.S. Government 'Considering' Creation of Nationwide 5G Network

I’d need to see the details but I’m generally against government building and operating what should be done by the private sector. China is an threat, but it isn’t clear to me how a government-run 5G network solves that.

 

[samcraig]

I would think many liberals would love this because it brings us one step closer to nationalizing industries and communication services. They will claim it takes profiteering out of services and lowers costs. Some also claim we need to do this to electricity as well. The idea of nationalizing industries is one of the pillars of socialism. It's funny that Trump is touting it. I’m not in favor of this at all for many reasons, but I’d think it would get support from many on the left.

Let's not make this a partisan issue.

 

[eltoslightfoot]

I would think many liberals would love this because it brings us one step closer to nationalizing industries and communication services. They will claim it takes profiteering out of services and lowers costs. Some also claim we need to do this to electricity as well. The idea of nationalizing industries is one of the pillars of socialism. It's funny that Trump is touting it. I’m not in favor of this at all for many reasons, but I’d think it would get support from many on the left.

I really, really hope you are wrong. But, I really, really doubt you are wrong. For once, I am hoping the telecom industry lobby comes through.