The Trump administration has shown more than a passing interest in telecoms and wireless in the past. Between the administration’s difficult relationship with Huawei and rumored plans to create a nationalized 5G network, it’s hard to describe the White House’s policy clearly, but the interest is certainly there.
According to Fierce Wireless, the White House has scheduled a meeting Friday with wireless industry executives to discuss 5G. The report doesn’t say anything about the agenda, but a round-table meeting with executives shows that 5G is clearly of interest to the President and his subordinates.
The report says that ” details of the meeting—including whether it’s simply an educational event or if the administration is planning to discuss new policy initiatives—remain unclear,” but indicates that wireless industry execs will be meeting with members of the administration.
Maintaining US “leadership” in wireless networks has been a focal topic of conversation around 5G. Mostly, that refers to American companies such as Intel or Qualcomm remaining at the forefront of wireless networking technology, not just the US having a good 5G network. The security of national communications is also seen to be at stake, since whichever companies win contracts to supply networking equipment for 5G will naturally have insight and potentially access into nationwide communications.
