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Government Fears Chinese Cyber-Spying
According to Axios, national security officials were driven to propose
the network over about
hacking by China. In the document, the officials said that they were concerned with China’s rapid
development of 5G network technology and the possibility of the country spying on America
through Chinese-manufactured U.S. telecom infrastructure. By nationalizing 5G
networks, the
documents reasoned, China could be kept out of the equation and the U.S. secured.
Security Officials Worry About Chinese Advances in AI, Algorithms
Oddly, the documents also said that China’s advances in artificial intelligence might also be a
reason to develop a national 5G network. According to Axios, national security officials wrote that
China is leading the “algorithm battles”. They feared that not having a government-controlled 5G
network would leave the U.S. far behind China in the broader use of artificial intelligence around
the world. Exactly how that would happen wasn’t clear from the documents.
The problem with Going It Alone
Although
in theory, a national 5G network could appeal to those who are seeking a more secure
national
wireless network, in practice it might not go so well. That’s because 5G is a set of
standards and not an actual network. Those standards are agreed
upon by organizations and
companies around the globe and everyone generally plays by the rules. By creating an entirely
different network with different equipment, the U.S. would have what amounts to a unique network
in a world where uniqueness only increases costs and can limit device availability. None of this
would appeal to U.S. wireless service providers, handset makers or the people and businesses that
are eager to get access to 5G.
