Yesterday, Axios reported that the Trump administration was considering an option for a government-controlled 5G network. Documents that Axios had obtained showed that Trump’s national security team proposed a few options, including one where the US government funds and construct a single network, which would be aimed at providing protection to US networks from Chinese cyberattacks.
However, there’s a new report from Recode saying that those documents that Axios obtained were outdated and their proposed plans were not actively being considered by the Trump administration.
According to Recode’s sources that the White House, they said that not only are those documents old, it wasn’t any sort of serious proposal on the National Security Council’s part. The idea was put out by a staff member, but there wasn’t any sort of major traction that would provide a major policy shift and would likely never be.
To comment on this news, FCC Chair Ajit Pai today released a statement opposing such idea. He said, “The main lesson to draw from the wireless sector’s development over the past three decades — including American leadership in 4G — is that the market, not government, is best positioned to drive innovation and investment.” Pai added, “Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help the United States win the 5G future.”
