Former counterintelligence official Nate Snyder told Hill.TV on Monday that the U.S. needs to work more closely with its allies on developing infrastructure for next-generation wireless communications known as 5G.
“I think one of the main things that we need to do is work as a coalition with our partners, our Five Eyes allies — so that’s the U.K., New Zealand, Australia and Canada — to really set up standards and set up a coalition to push for these standards and interoperability,” Snyder, a senior adviser at Cambridge Global Advisers, told hosts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti on “Rising.”
“In laymen’s terms, it’s essentially instead of bad-talking our friends, let’s get together and set the table on what 5G is going to look like and what the alternative to Huawei will be,” he added.
Snyder worked as a senior counterterrorism official in the Department of Homeland Security during the Obama administration.
President Trump signed an executive order last week aimed at blocking foreign tech companies from doing business in the U.S. if they are deemed a national security threat.
While the order does not name any countries or companies, the administration is looking to stop Chinese telecom company Huawei from helping U.S. allies develop next-generation wireless infrastructure.
Snyder said that while the executive order is a good first step, more needs to be done.
“I think it’s a good start, and actually it’s one of the things that this administration has done that I’m actually in agreement with when it comes to this,” he said, adding, “It’s not enough.”
— Julia Manchester
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