Excellent article today from the Washington Post: How China’s Huawei took the lead over U.S. companies in 5G technology
Huawei, still the only 5G equipment manufacturing with the end-to-end offering, keeps evolving into the world’s biggest supplier of telecom equipment. It sparks fear into U.S. and the Trump administration about potential impacts on national security as well as U.S. technology supremacy. The rising global demand for 5G equipment highlights how the U.S., a technology leader in other respects, is largely absent from the wireless networking industry.
5G is expected to shape technological innovation for years to come, providing mobile data connections not just for mobile phones, gaming and virtual-reality, but also for all kinds of cyber-physical systems – Internet of Things (IoT), driver-less cars, smart everything… The absence of a major U.S. alternative to foreign suppliers of 5G gear is a concern for the U.S. Unfortunately, as the article explains, a fragmented domestic market based on competing standards makes it challenging for U.S. wireless equipment sellers to amass a large customer base. This makes it almost impossible to compete with Huawei with its enormous domestic 5G market and the government support allowing them to undercut competitors with pricing and attractive financing.
Author brings together the recent spat about Huawei and Trump’s 5G-related proclamations, history of wireless in the U.S. and the concerns about Chinese espionage. He also discussed why the U.S. currently doesn’t have companies that manufacture 5G technology.
See my articles for more on societal impacts of 5G and the geopolitics of 5G.
Marin Ivezic is a Cybersecurity & Privacy Partner in PwC Canada focused on risks of emerging technologies.
Luka Ivezic is an independent consultant and author exploring geopolitical and socioeconomic implications of emerging technologies such as 5G, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT). To better observe policy discussions and societal attitudes towards early adoptions of emerging technologies, Luka spent last five years living between US, UK, Denmark, Singapore, Japan and Canada. This has given him a unique perspective on how emerging technologies shape different societies, and how different cultures determine technological development.
