On
Tuesday, Brad Parscale, President Trump's Campaign Manager for his 2020 reelection campaign, tweeted in
favor of a nationalized 5G network:
It is time for America to have a single 5G network for all carriers. The days of dropped calls, slow speeds, and no service need to end. It is time for the U.S. to have the world’s best cell service.— Brad Parscale (@parscale) June 5, 2018
FSF
scholars have contended that the most efficient way to deploy a nationwide
broadband network is through facilities-based competition, where multiple
providers are building infrastructure and offering next-generation broadband
services over the last mile. With facilities-based competition, providers
constantly are competing to upgrade their networks and to deploy broadband in
underserved areas. With a nationalized 5G network, even if multiple providers are offering services, consumers would be stuck
with a failing broadband network because there is no incentive for providers to
invest in technological improvements when they do not own the network.
In
January 2018, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai announced
his opposition to a nationalized 5G network:
I oppose any proposal for
the federal government to build and operate a nationwide 5G network. The main
lesson to draw from the wireless sector’s development over the past three
decades—including American leadership in 4G—is that the market, not government,
is best positioned to drive innovation and investment. What government can and
should do is to push spectrum into the commercial marketplace and set rules
that encourage the private sector to develop and deploy next-generation
infrastructure. Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would
be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help
the United States win the 5G future.
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