If China dominates 5G and 6G, no defense system can protect America.

Americans of both parties recognize that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) threatens the free world with a multifaceted economic, military, diplomatic, cultural and technological strategy. To counter this, the United States is determined to resolve the radio spectrum shortage by deploying technology diplomacy, a new category of national policy that integrates technological expertise, innovative strategies, and policy instruments. We must act.

As a former Under Secretary of State and Commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) from 2019 to 2021, we believe that starting with 5G, the foundation of current and future innovation, will ensure our technological advantage. Masu.

The U.S. State Department and FCC are not just participants, but architects of global policy change. The Department of State currently maintains a Democratic Party of Democracy, which encompasses 60 countries representing two-thirds of the world’s GDP, more than 200 telecommunications providers, and dozens of industry-leading companies rooted in principles of trust that advance human freedom. Founded the Clean Network Alliance.

Clean Network’s commitment to trust means honesty, accountability, and transparency. This will ensure that his 5G rollout in member states respects the rule of law and human rights. This is in direct contrast to the Chinese Communist Party’s ambition to use technology to strengthen its authoritarian state. Former US National Security Adviser HR McMaster said the Clean Network was the first government-led effort to prove it could win the Chinese Communist Party’s economic wars because it exposed its biggest weakness: lack of trust. It was evaluated that there is.

This mission to advance freedom through the innovation and adoption of trusted technology continues today through Purdue University’s Crack Technology Diplomacy Institute. The institute advances global technology security strategies through the Congressional-authorized Global Technology Security Commission, which aims to protect U.S. strategic technologies such as 5G and 6G from authoritarian threats. .

Mobile wireless technologies like 5G can help more Americans and communities bridge the digital divide and power new industries like self-driving cars, advanced manufacturing, and robotics. However, reliable technologies like 5G require radio spectrum to function. This starts with spectrum frequency allocation, the lifeblood of wireless networks.

Unfortunately, the United States faces a severe frequency shortage of licensed mid-band frequencies, the “Goldilocks” of frequencies that provide both coverage and capacity. US inaction in recent years has allowed China to leapfrog the US in spectrum leadership. China has accumulated four times as many licensed mid-band frequencies as the US, and the US currently ranks 13th out of 15 major countries in licensed mid-band frequencies. Over the next five years, other countries, including China, will surpass the US in licensed mid-band spectrum for 5G and 6G.

This imbalance poses significant strategic challenges for national security and global competitiveness. If the Chinese government and its authoritarian allies dominate 5G and 6G with superior spectrum infrastructure, there are no defense systems or mitigation measures that can protect Americans or American interests.

The United States does not need to take a backseat to China on the spectrum. From 2017 to 2020, the United States released her 6,000 MHz licensed spectrum to the market. But since then, America has fallen behind. The long-awaited National Spectrum Strategy just released by the Biden administration does not promise to free up 1 megahertz of spectrum.

The United States lacks licensed spectrum to compete in important future wireless technologies and is becoming a spectrum orphan. Spectral leadership is important – it’s part of America’s geopolitical leadership. As we discussed recent events at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Krach Institute, both are now disappearing.

This is a clarion call for strategic action. Now is the time to do the hard work of identifying additional mid-band spectrum for licensed use, including caps at 4 GHz and 7 GHz.

Prior to this, the State Department and FCC worked with federal partners to restore spectrum owned by the U.S. government for the benefit of the American people through commercial use. Unfortunately, this process failed and by the time the FCC’s spectrum auction authority expired last year.

It’s time to get back on course. The right approach to spectrum allocation will restore America’s spectrum pipeline, national security, and global technological leadership.

We must act boldly to win this global competition. Don’t fall into the “paralysis by analysis” that often occurs in the federal government. The first step would require Congress to reauthorize the FCC’s auction authority and replenish the pipeline of licensed spectrum.

Lawmakers must get their spectrum strategy back on track. There’s no time to waste.

Keith Clack served as U.S. Under Secretary of State. He currently serves as chairman of Purdue’s Crack Institute for Technology Diplomacy and co-chair of the Global Technology Security Committee. Krach previously served as Chairman and CEO of DocuSign and Ariba.

Brendan Carr is a member of the Federal Communications Commission.