Rep Michael McCaul (R-TX) introduces bill to boost US 5G presence

Rep Michael McChaul (R-TX) introduced legislation to boost the presence of US firms in global industry standards bodies to combat China’s rising influence in next-generation 5G cellular network technology. The bill presses the Secretary of State to boost the “representation and leadership” of the US at international telecommunication organizations that create standards for the 5G cellular network. That will be necessary to combat attempts by China to gain influence in those groups, the legislation says. The bill does not ask for additional funding but requests the State Department use its existing appropriations to fund the effort. “China’s majority control of the world’s 5G networks, interconnected devices and cloud storage is a risk we cannot accept,” said Rep McCaul. “We have to show up and compete with them.”