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

Americans of both parties recognize that the Chinese Communist Party threatens the free world with its multifaceted game of economic, military, diplomatic and cultural technologies. To counter this, the U.S. must move decisively to resolve its radio spectrum deficit by projecting tech diplomacy, a new category of statecraft integrating technological expertise, innovative strategies and policy tools.  

As the former undersecretary of the Department of State from 2019 to 2021 and commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), we believe in securing the technological high ground by starting with 5G — the backbone of current and future innovation. 

The U.S. State Department and FCC are not mere participants but architects of global policy change. The Department of State created the Clean Network Alliance of Democracies, now encompassing 60 nations, two-thirds of the world’s GDP, more than 200 telecom providers, and dozens of industry-leading companies rooted in the Trust Doctrine to advance human freedom. 

The Clean Network’s commitment to trust means integrity, accountability and transparency. It ensures that members’ 5G rollout honors rule of law and human rights — the opposite of the Chinese Communist Party’s ambition to use technology to strengthen the authoritarian state. Former U.S. national security adviser H.R. McMaster credited the Clean Network as the first government-led initiative to prove that China’s economic warfare was beatable because it exposed its biggest weakness: lack of trust. 

This mission to advance freedom through the innovation and adoption of trusted technology now continues through the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University. The institute drives global tech security strategy through its congressionally chartered Global Tech Security Commission, aiming to secure strategic U.S. technologies like 5G and 6G against authoritarian threats. 

Mobile wireless technologies like 5G can bring more Americans and communities across the digital divide and power new industries like autonomous vehicles, advanced manufacturing and robotics. However, trusted technology like 5G require radio spectrum to work. This starts with spectrum frequency allocation, the lifeblood of wireless networks. 

Unfortunately, the U.S. faces a serious spectrum deficit of licensed midband spectrum, the “goldilocks” of spectrum that provides both coverage and capacity. U.S. inaction in recent years has enabled China to leapfrog America in spectrum leadership. China has amassed four times as much licensed midband spectrum as the U.S., and America now ranks 13th of 15 leading nations in licensed midband spectrum. Over the next five years, other countries, including China, will surpass the U.S. in licensed mid-band spectrum for 5G and 6G. 

This imbalance poses critical strategic challenges for national security and its global competitiveness. If the Chinese government and its autocratic allies dominate 5G and 6G with superior spectrum infrastructure, there is no defense system or mitigation measure that can protect the Americans or U.S. interests. 

America need not take a backseat to China on spectrum. From 2017-2020, the U.S. unleashed 6,000 MHz of licensed spectrum to market. But America has been falling behind since then. The Biden administration’s just released and much-anticipated National Spectrum Strategy does not commit to freeing up a single megahertz of spectrum.  

The U.S. is becoming an isolated spectrum island with lack of licensed spectrum to compete on the critical wireless technologies of the future. Spectrum leadership matters — it is part and parcel of America’s geopolitical leadership. Right now, both are slipping away, as we explained a recent Center for Strategic and International Studies and Krach Institute event. 

This is a clarion call for strategic action. It’s time to do the hard work of identifying additional midband spectrum primed for licensed use like the 4 GHz and the upper end of 7 GHz. 

Earlier, the State Department and FCC worked hand in glove with federal partners to recover U.S. government-held spectrum for the benefit of the American people through commercial use. Unfortunately, this process broke down and lapsed into the FCC’s expiration of spectrum auction authority last year. 

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

We must move decisively to win this global contest. We cannot get stuck in the “paralysis by analysis” that often occurs in the federal government. The first step must come from Congress to reauthorize the FCC’s auction authority and refill the pipeline of licensed spectrum.  

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

Keith Krach served as U.S. undersecretary of State. He is chairman of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue and serves as co-chair of the Global Tech Security Commission. Brendan Carr is a commissioner on the Federal Communications Commission.