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The organization Citizens Against Government Waste reports that federal government agencies are setting up roadblocks that could prevent the US from winning the global race to 5G.
[...] The Departments of Commerce, Defense, Education, and Transportation have filed objections to various proposals by the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) to repurpose federal spectrum for 5G, all of which will slow down progress and effectively give an advantage to other countries like China.
Not only have the four federal agencies lost sight of the importance of achieving 5G dominance, they are also choosing to ignore a 2012 law that authorized clearing certain portions of federal spectrum to allow the FCC to re-allocate and auction it for commercial use. Indeed, they are making some absurd claims about what will happen if they no longer have the use of some or all of their spectrum. The Department of Commerce has said that relinquishing spectrum used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric would cost lives because it would reduce the ability to forecast the weather; the Department of Defense is hiding behind national security and refusing to share anything; the Department of Education is claiming that children will lose access to educational spectrum while the current use of that spectrum is under the FCC's scrutiny for possible abuse; and the Department of Transportation (DOT) is also talking about how the use of spectrum under its control would save lives.
The DOT-held spectrum at 5.9 GHz was allocated to the department in 2009 to be used solely for dedicated short-range communications (DSRC), which has to date has been deployed in very few vehicles. Advocates for retaining the spectrum at DOT are now promoting a different technology that has yet to be adequately tested and may not be widely available for 8-10 years. At the same time, proven technology that increases passenger safety being used in vehicles today includes automatic emergency braking, backup cameras, blind-spot warning, electronic stability control, forward collision warning, lane departure warning and lane keeping systems, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), rear automatic braking, and rear cross-traffic alerts. These systems are radar or laser-based, meaning they have been developed without the need for the 5.9 GHz spectrum.
LINK: https://www.cagw.org/thewastewatcher/federal-spectrum-turf-war-could-hand-5g-victory-china
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @03:25PM (3 children)
In the suburbs of Wisconsin's wealthiest county I can't even get a decent 3G signal everywhere. I would be more than happy with good 4G coverage. Are any consumers actually clamoring for poor coverage in exchange for faster speeds? It seems like a step backwards considering that verizon is shutting down 3G to make way for it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @06:31PM
Central planners. They do what party wants them to do. What can consumers do? They can't roll own network or use network from 40s-80s, so they can only bend over and take it.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 24 2019, @06:57PM (1 child)
i agree. nationwide 4g and fiber would be great in comparison to 5g.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Sunday August 25 2019, @09:04AM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_(satellite_constellation) [wikipedia.org]
Ubiquitous fiber would be nice, but this will connect a lot of people, especially rural people, at costs that won't be matched by fiber.
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