US Officials Want Allied Control Over 6G
Chinese firms took international market share in 5G gear
WASHINGTON, July 30, 2026 – The Trump administration is hoping that early planning work with two dozen allied nations will curb Chinese influence over next-generation telecom networks.
Arielle Roth, head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the White House’s top telecom advisor, said Wednesday that now was the time to try to ensure those countries’ firms are successful when 6G networks are deployed around 2030.
“If we don’t work together, if we become fragmented, if we pursue policies of protectionism, if we don’t collaborate on spectrum policy — that’s going to undermine our ability to achieve scale, and achieve the kind of revenue bases that will enable innovative companies from free and democratic nations to lead in 6G,” she said.
She spoke at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies aimed at highlighting a recent agreement between the U.S. and 24 other nations. The deal, which Roth said took “a tremendous amount of effort” sets deadlines for collaboration on 6G standards over the next year.
The agreement came just before the Federal Communications Commission announced it was banning the import of new models of robotics and power converters. The agency is also clamping down on foreign-made drones and Wi-Fi routers.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr implied earlier this year he would retaliate if the European Union — a signatory to the 6G agreement — went forward with a proposed law the U.S. sees as targeting American satellite operators.
On Wednesday, Deputy Commerce Secretary Paul Dabbar echoed Roth’s view that creating a large potential market for trusted firms was important. Network deployment of 6G gear is expected in 2030. It’s expected to enable more seamless interoperability with satellite networks and have built-in machine learning capabilities, among other things.
China was only mentioned by name twice during the nearly three-hour event, but government officials from multiple countries and industry representatives referenced the fact that Chinese firms Huawei and ZTE took global market share after 5G was instituted.
The U.S. and E.U. since decided that was a potential backdoor for surveillance and espionage. Industry groups estimated removing Chinese equipment would cost about $40 billion in the E.U., and the U.S. has spent more than $5 billion compensating smaller providers for the work.
“If something is cheap and it’s also good, there’s something tricky behind it,” said Pavel Popescue, a vice president at Romania’s telecom regulator. “That’s what happened with our 5G networks.”
Officials from Sweden, Japan, and the United Kingdom also spoke at the event, and telecom regulators from Italy and the European Union sent pre-recorded remarks.
Representatives from government and industry emphasized a desire to make 6G networks secure, both from cyber attacks and in terms of a supply chain that included trusted companies.
That’s partly because there are plans for 6G networks to be able to sense the environment around them and track moving objects from place to place, even those with no electronics. That will help keep autonomous vehicles safe and monitor for drones, but could also be exploited by bad actors, experts said.
“As we introduce new capabilities like using AI in the network, things like [sensing], et cetera, that’s going to require new security from a technical perspective in order to make sure we can prevent that from being used in a more nefarious way,” said Chris Boyer, vice president of global security at AT&T.
Boyer said AT&T supported networks that were mostly software-defined, with the baseline hardware being standardized. That would allow quicker updates and more tailored deployments, he said.
It would also likely be a detriment to Chinese firms and their all-in-one gear, he said.
Specific spectrum disputes weren’t discussed at the event, but officials agreed the World Radiocommunication Conference next year would be important for trying to harmonize bands for 6G. The conference is mostly dealing with satellite issues, and will be held in Shanghai, China.
Partnership deadlines
The NTIA-led agreement set out a plan for countries to gather input from their telecom stakeholders and exchange findings within three months. That would be followed by more meetings within six months and then in 2027 to set new goals for furthering allied control of 6G standards.
