The U. S. is in talks with private companies to build a secure 5G network amid concerns about China and cybersecurity, said two administration officials familiar
The U. S. is in talks with private companies to build a secure 5G network amid concerns about China and cybersecurity, said two administration officials familiar with the plans.
Talks are preliminary, and key decisions over funding and control haven’t been reached, said the people, who discussed the deliberations on condition of anonymity. The government aims to decide on a plan by the end of September and build it out over the next few years, said one of the officials.
If the U. S. opts for one secure network rather than multiple systems, the main unresolved questions would be what portion of the project would be taxpayer funded, and whether it would be owned by the government, a private consortium or some combination of public and private entities, one of the officials said.
If the federal government directly participates in building a wireless network intended for commercial use, it’d be a departure from the decades-long tradition of auctioning licenses to telecommunications companies to build their own networks.
A handful of carriers, including Verizon, have already been moving from trials to deployments of the next-generation wireless network known as 5G. Most mobile-phone companies are targeting 2020 for the initial roll-out of the technology, which promises 10 times faster speeds and lower latency, or lag time, in transferring data when it’s requested.
