After years of explosive growth, 5G’s future is mired in politics

5G coverage has expanded across the US, fueling personal and commercial applications. But as 5G spreads — with roughly 62 percent of Americans able to receive high-speed coverage at home — rising demand, lack of infrastructure, and a political impasse are posing roadblocks to pushing it further. Approximately 206.4 million Americans can receive high-speed 5G coverage at home, according to data by Broadband Now, an independent broadband availability website. But that access isn’t spread evenly across the country with gaps, especially in more rural areas. Stakeholders are grappling with a political roadblock: a fight over access to spectrum. Congress let the Federal Communications Commission’s longstanding authority to auction spectrum lapse in March 2023 for the first time in decades, an issue that both the agency and the wireless industry are urging Congress to fix in order to let the US meet demand and stay globally competitive. At the crux of the political issue is Department of Defense allies on Capitol Hill pushing for the government to keep control over more of the available spectrum, with wireless companies pushing for more spectrum to be available to be licensed to them.