Stu Woo

Montana lawmakers approved a first-of-its-kind bill to ban TikTok across the state, setting the stage for future court battles that could determine the fate in the US of the popular, Chinese-owned social media app. The Montana House voted 54-43 to send the bill to Gov. Greg Gianforte’s (R-MT) desk. If signed into law, the ban would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024 and would bar app stores from offering TikTok within the state. It would fine any entity violating this law $10,000 per violation.

The US government has upended the $35 billion-a-year cellular-equipment industry, ushering in a new era of competition and giving US companies a shot at re-entering a sector they vacated years ago. Pushed by Washington’s campaign to cripple Huawei over cybersecurity concerns, countries representing more than 60% of the world’s cellular-equipment market are considering or have already enacted restrictions against Huawei. And to take advantage of that opening, the US government—as well as governments in the UK and European Union—are considering financial support and other measures to boost do

Because 5G is set to be embedded in so many fields of endeavor, the country that dominates the technology is likely to reap outsize profits, attract top-tier engineering talent and seize an edge in other critical future technologies, including weaponry. President Donald Trump has said 5G is a race that the US must win. But while American wireless carriers are leading in early deployment of the technology, some telecom-industry leaders say Beijing is poised to vault ahead in coming months. China plans to blanket urban areas with it by the end of 2020 and the rest of the country soon after.

The Trump administration’s offensives aimed at frustrating the 5G ambitions of China and mobile-technology giant Huawei might end up impeding America’s wireless ambitions, too. Recent White House actions land as China and the US race to launch the superfast cellular networks, with Huawei and its Chinese customers targeting a nationwide 5G rollout in 2020. A US Commerce Department measure, designed to hinder Huawei from buying critical components, might make it harder for American and European telecom-equipment makers to buy certain supplies as well, Western industry executives said.

Two years after a congressional report labeled Huawei Technologies Co a national-security threat, the Chinese firm unexpectedly scored a big-name ally in Washington. It was the Redskins, the capital’s National Football League franchise. Huawei reached an agreement in 2014 to beam Wi-Fi through the suites at the team’s FedEx Field, in exchange for advertising in the stadium and during broadcasts. It was a marketing coup for a company hankering to beef up its meager US business and boost its image inside the Beltway. But the deal didn’t last long.

The US government has initiated an extraordinary outreach campaign to foreign allies, trying to persuade wireless and internet providers in these countries to avoid telecommunications equipment from China’s Huawei Technologies Co., apparently. American officials have briefed their government counterparts and telecom executives in friendly countries where Huawei equipment is already in wide use, including Germany, Italy and Japan, about what they see as cybersecurity risks.

A new battle for cellular airwaves is under way as governments around the world start to auction off spectrum for mobile coverage that could power near-instant video downloads and help run factories, control gadgets and navigate driverless cars.

While wireless-industry executives say applications that tap the full potential of 5G—self-driving cars, virtual reality and remote surgery—are several years away, leading the way does matter for a country’s economy, if the race to 4G is a guide. If the US hadn’t led the way on 4G, the country might not dominate mobile technology, and its platforms, such as Instagram, Snapchat and perhaps even Facebook and Netflix might not have become global powers. 

Apparently, Members of Congress have begun scrutinizing Google’s relationship with China’s Huawei Technologies—roping another Silicon Valley giant into Washington’s escalating digital cold war with Beijing. The review—of a facet of Google’s Android operating system partnership with Huawei—comes after lawmakers questioned Facebook about its data partnerships with Huawei and three other Chinese electronics makers. Facebook said it would wind down the Huawei deal by the week’s end.

Apparently, the Federal Communications Commission is considering a new rule to further curb the US business of Huawei Technologies, making it harder for small and rural carriers to purchase gear from Chinese telecom-equipment makers. Such a move would further escalate the government’s recent campaign against the cellular-technology giant and its Chinese peers over what the Trump administration says are national-security concerns.