Industry and State Department Battle Over 5G Standards

In the push to develop 5G—the next generation of wireless networks, a gap has emerged between the priorities of industry and government. Industry wants the government to take a limited role in export controls. Such controls, it argues, limit the ability of U.S. companies to participate in international organizations that set the standards for the architecture of 5G. That limitation, in turn, results in reduced access to foreign markets. The government wants standard-setting to take into account U.S. values and security. The arguments for these respective positions were laid out at a forum, “The Role of Global Standards in the Battle for 5G Leadership,” held at the Hudson Institute on Dec. 17.
Participating in the forum were industry experts from Qualcomm, the China Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), and Robert Strayer, deputy assistant secretary for cyber and international communications and information policy at the U.S. State Department.