President Trump is calling for American businesses to get behind 5G broadband expansion.
“American companies must step up their efforts, or get left behind,” the president said in a three-tweet thread.
Trump said he wanted the United States to be at the forefront of 5G technology development. “We must always be the leader in everything we do, especially when it comes to the very exciting world of technology,” Trump said in the tweet.
The thread comes just before U.S. and Chinese negotiators meet in Washington to engage in another set of trade talks Thursday morning.
The deployment of 5G is setting the stage of a new technological battle among some of the world’s developed nations. South Korea, Japan, and China are all poised to compete with the U.S. in the race to 5G.
U.S. telecommunications companies have already begun ramping up their 5G networks. AT&T announced last December that the company would be deploying 5G technology in 12 U.S. cities and would work with Samsung to launch the first 5G smartphone in mid-2019. Samsung confirmed the launch of the phone on Wednesday.
The transition to 5G mobile broadband is critical for connectivity, especially with companies relying more on wireless connection for everyday functions. 5G infrastructure would allow for more data to travel at faster speeds, opening up a new horizon for innovation and improved connectivity.
Current 4G infrastructure is quickly reaching maximum capacity, causing phone companies to resort to throttling speeds and consumers experiencing slower speeds due to network jams.
In 2015, AT&T received backlash for throttling data speeds of customers who subscribed to “unlimited data” plans. When customers reached a monthly limit of 4G data, AT&T would peg them down to a slower speed, often rendering data use impossible.
These limitations also prevented other carriers from offering unlimited data plans altogether.
Last September, the Federal Communications Commission, the agency responsible for overseeing the deployment of 5G, lifted regulations and barriers to public and private investment.
