Diane Rinaldo, acting head of the National Telecommunications & Information Administration, said that thanks to government policies that emphasize collaboration with industry, the U.S., as promised, winning the race to 5G.
President Donald Trump has made winning a chief goal, including beating the Chinese in the race to 5G supremacy.
In a speech to the Mobile World Congress Americas in Los Angeles, she pointed out that NTIA had pledged that victory at last year's conference and made the case for why the Trump Administration was delivering on that pledge.
She said that included a long-term spectrum policy, removing obstacles to infrastructure buildouts by streamlining permitting and identifying security gaps. The first two have been the province of the FCC, which has been freeing up spectrum, high and low as it were, for 5G, as well as loosening regs on cell tower environmental and historical reviews and putting other local reviews on the clock.
She said that there were 5G networks in 35 cities, with that number expected to be pushing 100 by year's end.
Throw in Silicon Valley chip leadership and more, and "that is what winning looks like," she said.
She credited the "unmatched power of the free enterprise system" as the engine of that victory track.
