Trump Focus on 5G Seen Tied to Emerging Security Concerns
The Trump White House specifically mentioned 5G deployment last week in its National Security Strategy (see 1712180071). The mention is important as it's the first time the administration issued a policy statement on spectrum, industry officials said. They told us the administration’s decision to focus on 5G reflects concerns that next generation of wireless is still being launched and industry needs to be on top of security threats before they develop.
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The document mentions only 5G and doesn’t address such other issues as the future of federal government spectrum or spectrum sharing, the kinds of issues that were a big focus of the Obama administration. Industry officials said 5G likely got added to the document as a result of wireless industry lobbying. Plus, the administration now has a more complete telecom team with the addition of David Redl as NTIA administrator. Grace Koh has been at the White House since February as special assistant to the president for technology, telecom and cybersecurity policy.
In July 2012, under Barack Obama, the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology recommended a shift in focus on spectrum, from exclusive use to sharing (see 1207230040). That recommendation later became official administration policy (see 1402030047). Security issues also emerged during the last administration. The FCC’s Technological Advisory Council last year weighed in with 18 recommendations for making 5G more secure.
Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, said he was surprised the Donald Trump White House mentioned 5G in a statement on national security. Calabrese said the administration needs to be aware that 5G isn’t primarily a carrier technology. Just like 4G, “which relies on Wi-Fi to carry the vast majority of mobile data, a robust and innovative 5G ecosystem will be characterized by heterogeneous networks that include gigabit Wi-Fi, wireline backhaul and customized, private IoT networks managed by enterprise and industrial users, from hotels, to factories to campuses,” he told us. The biggest consideration is finding enough bandwidth, which can happen only through “more dynamic spectrum sharing of underutilized bands,” he said.
The document doesn't offer a lot of detail, but “there are a number of good reasons to step on the gas for 5G,” said Doug Brake, senior policy analyst at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. “Not only do wireless networks tend to offer more control and insight into traffic generally, 5G is being designed with security in mind. Robust next-generation networks will also be key to national competitiveness. The statement should reflect broad support for the transition to 5G.”
More than half of internet traffic in the U.S. is through wireless devices, said Roger Entner, analyst at Recon Analytics. “If you want to protect the internet, you have to also secure 5G networks,” he said. “The trend towards the internet being wireless will get even stronger when it comes to IoT, ranging from home security to digital cities. I view the National Security Strategy as building on top of the other initiatives already in place.” The administration is right to focus on 5G, said Robert McDowell, senior policy adviser to Mobile Future. “The powerful dynamics of 5G are going to change everything from the evolution of the IoT, to video competition, to America’s global competitiveness and even national security,” he said. “It will upend the status quo on every level.”
Richard Bennett, network architect and free-market blogger, said the Obama administration was “unusually engaged” on spectrum policy because of the influence Silicon Valley had over the White House. "The hands-on approach didn’t always yield good results -- we’re still waiting for [TV] white spaces to approach commercial reality,” he said. “The current administration features very strong spectrum administrators at NTIA and FCC, where work tends to get done with less flamboyance.”