To Compete With China On 5G, U.S. Must Leverage Emerging Technologies

March 31, 2021—The United States can be a world leader in 5G networks by leveraging emerging technologies such as open radio access networks and low-earth orbit satellites, according to the director of the Reconnecting Asia Project.

Jonathan Hillman, who is also a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic International Studies, spoke about the tools the United States can use to compete with emerging 5G power, China, during a panel event on Monday. He also discussed a report he co-authored with Laura Rivas called “Global Networks 2030: Developing Economies and Emerging Technologies.”

Hillman analyzed several key trends, technologies, and strategies he believed the U.S. must leverage to take the lead in global 5G deployment. He did this through the lens of what he predicted the global technological and economic landscape may resemble in 2030.

He said for a clear 5G leader to emerge, the U.S. can leverage emerging technologies, such as Open RAN, smart cities, advanced photonics and low-earth orbit satellites.

Jessica Rosenworcel, acting chairwoman of the Federal Communications Commission, pointed to Open RAN as an opportunity for the country to lower costs and boost security, as it weans off of foreign suppliers for network equipment.

Recommendations for U.S. leadership

Hillman gave two recommendations for how the U.S. can compete in 5G on the world stage. The first is that it needs to establish a cohesive vision of what it wants global networks to look like in 2030. “We’re living and still learning the consequences of not having done that ten years ago.” Hillman said that the U.S.’s failure to identify the strategic value of global network growth contributed to the U.S. losing its wide technological and manufacturing lead on China.

“Huawei did not emerge [as a 5G leader] overnight,” he said.

He also said that a part of this vision should be that the U.S. needs to begin viewing markets in South-East Asia and Africa as partners, and not customers. Hillman indicated that this would allow for significant collaboration, improved supply chains, and greater security.

Secondly, Hillman said that technical assistance between the U.S. and its allies needs to be a default position, not something that is tacked onto a relationship. “I think there’s an opportunity here to connect these developing markets—who’re going to be experimenting with these technologies themselves, learning their own lessons, and to have them share those lessons with each other.”

Hillman further addresses these points in the complete report, as well as his book, “The Digital Silk Road: China’s Quest to Wire the World and Win the Future.”