A group of 19 Republican senators penned a letter to President Donald Trump asking him to support a private-sector deployment of 5G over nationalizing the effort, The Hill reports.
The lawmakers expressed concerns about a request for information put forward by the Trump administration. They noted they felt the request went against a free-market strategy.
“Rather than rely on private industry and market forces to foster multiple, facilities-based 5G networks, the RFI seeks information on a government-managed process for 5G networks,” the senators wrote. “Nationalizing 5G and experimenting with untested models for 5G deployment is not the way the United States will win the 5G race.”
The letter was sent to the president by Sen. John Thune, who is chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, Innovation, and the Internet.
It was signed by GOP Sens. John Barrasso, Shelley Moore Capito, John Cornyn, Ron Johnson, Marco Rubio, and others.
The letter comes in response to the Defense Department’s issuance of the request for information on Sept. 18 from the industry. The notice asks for insight into accelerating spectrum sharing and 5G deployment.
“While we recognize the need for secure communications networks for our military, we are concerned that such a proposal threatens our national security. When bad actors only need to penetrate one network, they have a greater likelihood of disrupting the United States’ communications services,” they wrote.
The senators asked Trump to remain on a free-market path in order to help boost the chances of the U.S. winning the global 5G race.
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