Kudlow: Administration Opposes National 5G Plan; Industry Echoes That

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Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council, said Thursday the administration does not support a federal national 5G network. His remarks at a CTIA event assured attendees the White House believes industry should lead development on 5G in the United States.

“We should stay on the free-market track,” Kudlow said, according to The Hill. “We want as much entrepreneurship as possible. We want to make sure the door is open for American companies and related suppliers.”

President Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Pascale, previously promoted a nationalized 5G deployment plan, Inside Towers reported. Some proponents believe it would help the U.S. roll out 5G before China.

But Kudlow and members of the FCC have opposed the plan, saying the wireless should take the lede. That sentiment was echoed Thursday at a different wireless event at the University of Maryland. 

Speaking on a 5G panel at Wireless Connect 2019, Phillips Lytle attorney Douglas Dimitroff called the concept of shifting 5G networks from the private sector to the federal government “radical,” and not something he would do. David Young of Verizon, agreed, saying, “look at the infrastructure funded by the government today. [That] funding is in crisis in many places.”

“I do not expect to see an announcement that there will be a national network. I think we’re way past that,” said Vertical Bridge CEO and Co-Founder Alex Gellman, during a panel on the future of wireless.

April 8, 2019

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