The Biden administration plans to follow the example of its predecessor, the Trump administration, in setting policy goals around the development of the 6G and striving to make the United States surpass China in the 6G field. An unnamed senior White House official said publicly at a press briefing this week, "China has a telecoms-first policy that the United States does not have. Allowing an enemy country to get ahead in 6G will give them the opportunity to undermine U.S. security."
Mike Dano, author of Lightreading, describes this as similar to the Trump administration's 5G race. Although the Trump administration has been a mess in many areas, it has at least released a significant amount of 5G spectrum and introduced some friendly policies around its deployment. But Mr Dano thinks Mr Biden has less to offer in this area than Mr Trump. The Biden administration, now in its third year, hasn't even added a commissioner to the FCC or released any new spectrum resources. As a result, T-Mobile won't even get the spectrum it had already auctioned for. Under these circumstances, how can you talk about 6G?
Alan Davidson, a senior official at the NTIA and one of the most pro-telecom cabinet members in the Biden administration, explains that "while 5G is already being deployed in the United States, it makes sense to start planning for 6G." Davidson has been behind the US government's $100 billion broadband subsidies in recent years, and is a supporter of Open RAN and AI legislation. Now his eyes turned to six grams.
The problem, however, is that it is unclear what 6G will look like, which spectrum will be used, and whether it will adopt OFDMA architecture like 5G. The only thing that is clear is that China is interested in 6G. Once China is ahead by 6G, it can be used for espionage and can disrupt the communications of the enemy in the event of a war in Taiwan. The Biden administration has made it clear that it wants to continue its predecessor's approach of getting tough with China, getting tough with Huawei. Just this week, they announced a $300 million fine against Seagate for selling hard drives to Huawei.
A new round of competition in the 6G space is good news for telecom companies in China and the United States, especially telecom equipment companies. At a time of sluggish demand, the government stimulus is good news for telecoms companies. Competition between countries is likely to drive the adoption and development of technology that is a bit ahead of its time.
Contact Person: Mr. Jack Zhou
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