Will Trump try to nationalize a 5G network?

World
Europe

By CGTN’s The Point

According to a senior administration official, US President Donald Trump’s national security team is looking at plans to build the infrastructure for a super-fast 5G wireless network to counter the so-called threat of Chinese spying. But he also added that the option was being debated at a low level in the administration and was six to eight months away from being considered at the presidential level.

However, many sides quickly criticized the idea, saying such a move would heavily disrupt the existing market order and technical development process.

“This proposal would be extremely difficult to actually achieve. All the major carriers behind the 5G build-out have been spending enormous sums of money and developing technology, and many partnerships have been formed, so for the US [government] to kind of jump in, in the middle of this, could cause nothing but chaos,” said Scott Schober, cybersecurity expert and CEO of Berkeley Varitronics Systems.

“Some of the White House says there is a high probability that if China wins the race to 5G technology build out, it could greatly affect the security in the nation here within the United States,” Schober added.

Einar Tangen, the current affairs commentator, thought that “maybe there is some fear that China is getting a little bit ahead. Even beyond 5G, given what China has done with quantum entanglement, I think there might be some concern that the US is behind in this race and somehow they need to be proactive and go at it.”

The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9.30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5.30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10.30 a.m. (0230GMT).