National Security Experts Support FCC 5G Spectrum Plan Voted Today

National security and defense, the protection of the nation state, its citizens, economy, and institutions, is an essential duty of government. Safeguarding the nation state includes a range of activities to prevent, deter, and mitigate attacks by adversarial foreign nations, as well as strengthening the nation’s security and defense through economic and technological development. Securing the spectrum resources to enable America’s increasingly wireless digital economy and society is now a key policy issue.  The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted today on an important spectrum item with national security implications.

America’s global prowess comes in part from information communications technologies, notably the 4G/LTE mobile wireless ecosystem. While the U.S. emerged as the global winner in 4G, adding hundreds of billions of dollars in gross domestic product and millions of new jobs, 5G dominance is up for grabs. The move to 5G, or the fifth-generation of mobile wireless technology, will drive innovation in artificial intelligence, augmented reality, robotics, and quantum computing. China has many advantages over the U.S. in the race to 5G, including the deployment of mid-band spectrum, which is particularly well suited for 5G technology and service development.

It is no secret that China, whose government, military, and industry are suffused into a single entity under the Chinese Communist Party, wants to supplant the U.S. in global digital dominance, and 5G is a key battle front. China has already deployed 200 megahertz of mid-band spectrum and is in the process of deploying another 500 megahertz. Since 2015, it has outspent the U.S. by roughly $24 billion in wireless infrastructure and plans to spend $400 billion on 5G investments. It has also built about 12 times more 5G base stations than the U.S. and has invested some $75 billion in Huawei, its largest telecommunications company, to corner the 5G market and undercut international competitors across 170 countries.

The U.S. Department of Justice recently charged Huawei and two of its U.S. subsidies with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to steal trade secrets, in addition to bank fraud, obstruction of justice, and theft of technology. The recognition that equipment from Chinese government-owned firms could be used for surveillance, sabotage, and stealing U.S. technology, intelligence, and personal information has prompted the Trump Administration to secure the information communications technology supply chain by restricting commerce with Chinese vendors which pose national security risks. No less concerning is how Chinese-government owned technology firms restricted at the federal state level have embedded themselves in state and local government with contracts that allow them to collect Americans’ sensitive data and then transfer it to China where it can be processed and inspected by the Chinese government, as a new report by ChinaTechThreat documents.

The FCC led by Chairman Ajit Pai has moved quickly to close the 5G gap with China through key components promoted by Commissioners O’Reilly and Carr. The plan includes a combination of spectrum auctions, fast-tracking infrastructure rollout, and 5G workforce promotion. The FCC approved a plan to hold a public auction for a particularly important swath of mid-band spectrum – known as the C-band – in December with incentives for incumbent satellite providers to clear the spectrum as quickly as possible. The FCC also issued the 5G Fast Plan, a set of initiatives to speed up infrastructure approval and deployment, get more spectrum into the marketplace, and modernize outdated regulations, which includes prohibiting FCC subsidies from being spent on equipment from vendors deemed national security risks, including China’s Huawei and ZTE.

Leading national security experts support Chairman Pai’s plan to quickly auction the C-band spectrum before the end of the year. Mike Rogers, former Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, commissioned the 2012 report which recommended that the U.S. stop doing business with Huawei and ZTE. Rogers, now serving as Chairman of 5G Action Now, a group formed to establish the U.S. as the worldwide leader in 5G, supports the Chairman’s auction plan and benefits of 5G, including economic growth in rural America, technological expansion and improved national security. Joining Rogers on a letter to Pai are Heritage Foundation Visiting Fellow Steve Bucci, former Deputy National Security Advisor for the Trump Transition Team Andy Keiser, and former Director of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, noting, “The first country to deploy 5G will control the global communications network and have a national security edge on the rest of the world… Chairman Pai’s proposal prioritizes speed in an effort to deploy the next generation of wireless technology before China.” While moving forward quickly with the C-band auction is an important and vital step to securing America’s national security and leadership in the 5G age, there is still more work to do.