5G Cold War
What is 5G?
Technology is fast growing and evolving at a rapid rate. Self-driving cars, telemedicine and virtual reality are going to shape the world soon. To keep up with these changes, the trail network industry has introduced 5G, the fifth generation of wireless technology. 5G is set to bring speeds of around 10 gigabits per second your phone. That is more than 600 times faster than the typical 4G speeds on today’s mobile phones (Finley, 2020). With the help of 5G, streaming will be faster and easier, and people are able to connect with one another, quicker.
Domination for 5G between USA & China?
In 2010, The US House Intelligence Committee reported that Chinese telecom companies Huawei Technologies and ZTE are posing security threats to the US and are not safe to be used in the US. Traditionally, the Chinese have shown major resistance to American big-data companies such as Google and Facebook, but dealings were still done between the two countries with regards to technology till now. This is evident in 2019 where Apple recorded $100 million of daily sales in China, while Huawei Technologies reported record revenues primarily from its exposure in western markets, including the US. (Explained: The new technology cold war, 2020). In 2011, Huawei requested the US government to conduct a thorough investigation with regards to the allegations placed on them. However, in their 2012 report, the US still stood by their stand and even claimed the companies as national security threats. This is viewed by many as the technological cold war that is believed to affect the rest of the world as well since they have chosen between the two parties. If this continues, it is believed that soon the world will be divided into two blocs with both countries fighting for dominance and limiting each other’s access. This has impacted the Chinese badly when 5G was just set to be rolled out globally where Huawei is seemed to be leading. For other countries, it is important to maintain good bilateral relationship with Chinese firms as 5G is set to be implemented. However, the 5G network used in China requires major components such as chips that are from the US. Now with the restrictions on going, Huawei is set to face a new challenge of creating their own chips and applications, but the biggest challenge of all is convincing users to test their own technology that is newly created which is bound to have mistakes.
In conclusion, even though 5G have started to roll out in many countries, with the ongoing cold war between China and the US, it is difficult for countries to adopt 5G as they are bound to choose between the two parties. However, for 5G to be implemented smoothly, it is important that the cold war between the US and China cease down as both parties are key players in making 5G work.