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5G Action Now Launches to Fight for Swift U.S.
Deployment of 5G Technology
Former House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike
Rogers to Lead the Organization
(Washington, DC) – Former
House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), will serve as
Chairman of 5G Action Now, a new advocacy organization established to
fight for the rapid deployment of 5G technology in the United States and raise
the alarm about the importance of winning the 5G race against China. When in
Congress, Rogers worked to emphasize the critical importance of 5G to America’s
national and economic security, and highlighted the benefits of prioritizing
this race and successfully deploying 5G before China.
“The Chinese understand
how important 5G is to America’s economy, national security, and global
leadership,” Rogers said. “That’s why Beijing poured massive subsidies into
Huawei, worked to undercut international competition, and waged a campaign of
unprecedented economic espionage to dominate 5G. It is crucial that we don’t
allow China to outspend and outplay us on the 5G field.”
According to a recent
study, full deployment of 5G technology by 2035 will enable $13.2 trillion of
global economic output, and support 22 million jobs. At issue, today, is
whether China or the United States takes the lead in deploying this technology
and, therefore, reaps the economic rewards derived from dominance in this
crucial arena.
The urgency of
successfully rolling out 5G across the country cannot be overstated. 5G
Action Now supports the Federal Communications Commission’s goal of holding
an auction, this year, for the allocation of the C-band, the frequency spectrum
necessary to deliver ubiquitous 5G services.
“Ensuring American
leadership in 5G is not about that next killer app or faster download speeds.
It is about securing and strengthening our country’s economic future,” Rogers
said. “We, as a country, need to have a critical conversation about how to
prioritize the race for 5G”.
Rogers added, “American
innovation took us to the moon and can ensure that we surpass China in the 5G
race, and permanently establish American leadership. We can do this by smartly
deploying 5G technology, something the Chinese are currently focused on. It’s
time for the U.S. to recognize this and move forward.”
5G Action Now is a 501(c)4 advocacy organization that works to
educate members of Congress and the American people about this issue.
“Leadership of 5G and its rollout is not a Republican or a Democratic issue,
it’s an American issue. If we cede victory in this race to Beijing, no one
wins,” Rogers said.
About 5G Action Now 5GActionNow.com
igence policy.Exclusive: Former Rep. Mike Rogers Leads Group Calling On FCC To Move Quicker On 5G Tech
by Chris White 1.13.20
- Former Rep. Mike Rogers joins 5G Action Now, a new group created to help convince regulators to put aside their differences and quickly develop fifth generation mobile service.
- Rogers’ decision to head the group comes as the Department of Defense asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to hold off on building out such technology.
- 5G Action Now is also hoping to convince Americans that if the U.S. government doesn’t put 5G architecture in place, then China will permanently take the lead.
Former
Michigan Rep. Mike Rogers is heading up a group that is working to poke
and prod the Federal Communications Commission into moving quicker on
approving fifth generation development.
Rogers will serve as chairman of 5G Action Now, a newly formed group fighting
to goose the FCC on 5G technology and warn Americans that China is
poised to take the lead on such technology. Rogers wants the FCC and
other agencies to put aside their differences aside and speed up
development.
Huawei
and ZTE are using Beijing as their personal piggy bank as the two
telecommunications companies sprint to build out 5G, according to
Rogers, who told the Daily Caller News Foundation in an exclusive
interview that the free market can help get the U.S. back in the game.
“The
Chinese were running around the world with suitcases of money, bribing
their way into getting contracts, something we should not do in the U.S.
It would have been a disaster,” said Rogers, a Republican who served as
chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
China has reportedly spent
$24 billion more on wireless communications infrastructure since 2015
than the U.S. The country also built more 5G towers in a three-month
span in 2017 than the U.S. did in three years.
Efforts
to put the U.S. government in charge of 5G development failed because
“the free market approach won the day,” he said before noting that he
doesn’t blame Republicans who pushed a quasi-nationalized spectrum.
Rogers was referring to reports suggesting that there was a tug-of-war taking place over the issue. (RELATED: Here Are The Big Name Republicans Some Believe Are Pushing Congress To Nationalize 5G Buildup)
Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale, for instance, tweeted in 2019 his support for a federal role in
5G development. Republican adviser Karl Rove also pressed Congress that
year to nix legislation that effectively prohibits nationalization of
fifth generation development.
“I
think that was done – they were tapping into the frustration of … hey
this thing looks so hard. You have so many players,” Rogers said about
the thinking Parscale and others were using. “We are going to lose this
fight. Would it be better to do a nationalized version?”
“Thankfully
the free market approach won the day,” the former Michigan lawmaker
said. “I don’t think it was malicious. I don’t think there was any ill
intent. I think prevailing forces won the day.”
Rogers’ comments come at a nerve-wracking time for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai.
Secretary of Defense Mark Esper urged the
FCC in November to slow down on spectrum rollout, citing concerns
related to “national security, civil service, and the economic benefit
of the nation.” The FCC announced in April that it will auction three slices of millimeter-wave airwaves.
Esper’s
problems with the rollout stem from an internal-agency squabble, Thomas
Struble, a tech policy analyst at R Street, told the DCNF. “Each agency
has its own mission … so it’s not uncommon for the FCC and other
federal agencies to clash in spectrum policy disputes as they each try
to achieve their own policy goals,” he said.
President Donald Trump, meanwhile, is gung-ho on canvassing the country in new wireless infrastructure.
“I
want 5G, and even 6G, technology in the United States as soon as
possible. It is far more powerful, faster, and smarter than the current
standard,” Trump said in a 2019 tweet.
The holdup is having a downstream impact on wireless companies. Ligado Networks has waited a
couple of years for permission to use a broad swath of wireless
spectrum to build out fifth generation infrastructure. The company “can
only wait so long,” Ligado CEO Doug Smith said in a June statement.
“I
am not familiar with them,” Rogers said of Ligado and its struggles,
adding that the company’s problems only illustrate the need to speed up
the process.
“If you wait for the end of 2020 for the auction to move forward, then we are in trouble,” he concluded.
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