FCC Commissioner Carr Remarks on Ensuring the Security of 5G Networks

Because 5G networks are interconnected, even a small amount of compromised equipment could be devastating to a country’s national security. 5G means that we must secure our networks from the “core” to the “edge.” At the Federal Communications Commission, we are in a position to do something about this threat. And we are. [On Nov. 22], my colleagues and I voted to prohibit carriers from using federal dollars to purchase any equipment or services from companies that pose a national security threat, including Huawei and ZTE. 

Importantly, this discussion is not just about network security in some narrow, technical sense. It is also about what I have described as “5G values”—values that China very clearly does not share.  We need to work together to ensure that the companies supplying the equipment and services integral to 5G networks are ones we can trust, and are ones that share our commitment to transparency, rule of law, freedom, and individual rights.