The Government 5G FAST plan
In a vast country like the US, connecting the entire territory requires massive CAPEX as consumers expectations from 5G for proper home and mobile connectivity remain high.
To meet the challenges and support the quick development and fielding of 5G, the US Government and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rolled out a comprehensive 5G strategy — Facilitate America’s Superiority in 5G Technology (FAST) Plan — in September of 2018.
The 5G FAST Plan is based on three main pillars:
· Push more spectrum into the marketplace by freeing and allocating the needed spectrum for 5G (high, mid and low band, as well as unlicensed ones).
· Update policies on infrastructure to harmonise and reduce the federal regulation on small cells.
· Modernise outdated regulations by adopting new laws to support Capex and business data services.
In April 2019, the FCC and the government announced a support fund of 20 billion dollars, for the development of 5G in rural areas.
The FCC has already organised two auctions for licences on the high band spectrum and received close to three billion dollars for them. A third and final auction this year will be held in December.
US telecom companies were among the first to announce commercial 5G offers. However, the four mobile network operators — AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile — are offering a “limited” 5G network, with restricted coverage and high upgrade costs, which will have a deterring effect on consumers.
Limitation and reality of the 5G network in the US
Even though 5G is a key component for the future of the American economy, and despite the support of the US government, 5G is still “virtual” in the US. This is because:
· 5G coverage is very limited.
· Most operators use short-distance millimeter wave technology. The technology allows very high-speed usages (up to 1 Ghz) but is affected by obstacles such as trees, windows etc. So practically, it can only be used in the streets.
· Deployment of the network is still slow for all four operators.
· Prices are very high and thus, most of the offers are limited to businesses (it may open quickly to consumers).
· The limited offers and limited penetration of the 5G enabled smartphone limits the number of possible 5G users.
· And last but not least, some consumers are afraid of the possible negative impact of 5G technology on their health. Four states have already taken the concerns very seriously and asked for additional research to be conducted before giving 5G a go.
Security Considerations : Huawei banned
The US government has blocked high-risk vendor Huawei given the persistent insecurity of its products as well as all other Chinese technology company initiatives over security fears.
It is an open war between China and US, given the advent of 5G could very well shift the global dynamics in areas of development and innovation. While the US has made significant strides toward 5G readiness, it has not done it to the same extent as China, who is currently outpacing the world in the early stages of 5G deployment.