OPINION — During a roundtable at the State Department last week, Attorney General William Barr emphasized how “our national security and the flourishing of our democratic values” depend on winning the competition with China over 5G wireless. 5G mobile networks with ultra fast data speed are critical because they support the most advanced 21st century technology including faster Internet, smart cities, and driverless cars.
The Trump Administration has rightly argued that Chinese telecommunications company Huawei should be prohibited from developing 5G networks outside of China because China would use backdoors in Huawei’s equipment to spy and compromise communications in the event of cyber conflict with the U.S. and our allies.
Barr emphasized 5G networks “will be a critical piece of the global infrastructure, the central nervous system of the global economy.” The last thing freedom loving nations should want is for China’s ruthless Communist dictatorship to control the technology, which would augment the power of its ubiquitous state surveillance against democratic principles of liberty and freedom.
China is relentlessly focused on becoming the global leader in high technology. China will reportedly invest $1.4 trillion over the next 5 years in developing 5G, including artificial intelligence software. China has even sought to use medical assistance to combat the coronavirus, which originated in their own Hubei province, to coerce nations to adopt Chinese 5G infrastructure.
Winning the 5G competition with China is at great risk over the inability to generate consensus within our government and between Department of Defense (DOD) and the private sector over the airwave spectrum used for wireless carriers.
Since the 1960’s, the Department of Defense has claimed right of ownership over the mid-band airwaves primarily for use in military communications and GPS. Wireless carriers want the Pentagon to allow mid-band airwaves to be used commercially. Advocates like Secretary of State Pompeo and Attorney General Barr contend that using lower mid-band “L-Band” is a critical requirement for winning the 5G competition with China. Opponents, led by Secretary of Defense Esper, argue using the L-band would interfere with the functioning of GPS, on which the military relies.
In April 2020, the Federal Communications Commission approved with conditions, a U.S. satellite communications company’s use of L-Band, which would support 5G and Internet of Things services. Some experts say using the L-Band paired with C-Band would enable 5G delivery within a few years versus closer to a decade if L-Band were not available. L-Band proponents contend the company’s 23 MHz guard band and a 99% reduction in power should be sufficient to ensure no collateral risk to the military’s airwaves. They also highlight over 5000 hours of testing, including 1500 hours of testing at a DOD sponsored facility, which showed no risk to GPS.
I’m a retired CIA officer, who specialized in HUMINT (human intelligence) and not a scientist, so I’ll leave it to the high technology experts for the most authoritative assessment the merits of each side’s position.
But in the interest of our national security, both sides need to put down their sabers, end their infighting, and focus on countering China- in DNI Ratcliffe’s words- “the greatest threat actor.”
The delay in clearing a path towards deploying 5G technology in the U.S. is not like fine wine getting better with age. China is challenging U.S. technological dominance on which our superior military and economic growth rely. For decades it has been the power of government-led innovation, which enabled DOD to remain a step ahead of our enemies. But DOD is no longer the engine driving innovation. The U.S. needs to leverage the private sector to deliver fast, disruptive technology, most especially 5G infrastructure, to ensure U.S. dominance in the 21st century.
DOD concerns about adopting the L Band should of course be taken seriously but with an eye towards partnering with the private sector on a solution. DOD and the private sector might not appear to be natural partners, but right now, our national security depends on them both to break down mutual barriers and build a collaborative relationship.
Now is the time for the Congress, the Executive Branch, and our innovative private sector to collaborate together to solve the airwave spectrum schism and enable the transfer to 5G with the greatest alacrity. Failure to do so would be a major victory for China, for which we would only have ourselves to blame.
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