Former Google CEO Slams US‘ ’Pathetic‘ Performance in 5G Race, Leaving America ’Well Behind' China

Former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt speaks during the opening event of The Prime Minister's Israeli Innovation Summit in Jerusalem, Israel, on Oct.24, 2018. (Ronen Zvulun/Reuters)

The United States’ “dithering” in its 5G rollout has left it “well behind” China in the race to dominate the next-generation wireless technology, said former Google CEO Eric Schmidt.

In a Feb. 17 Wall Street Journal op-ed co-authored with Harvard University professor Graham Allison, Schmidt argues that average 5G smartphone speed in the U.S. lags far behind that of China and many other nations, and that this gap calls for massive investment in the U.S. tech space to advance competitiveness and national security.

The authors detail how the average 5G mobile speed in the U.S. is about 75 megabits per second (Mbps), a rate that they call “abysmal.” By contrast, in cities in China, 5G phones enjoy average speeds of 300 Mbps, which may not beat South Korea’s average of more than 400 Mbps but is still sufficient for downloading high-definition movies in two minutes, the authors note.

The evidence speaks for itself, and does not reflect well on the current state of U.S. mobile technology as compared not just with China but even with friendly nations.

“American 5G upload speeds are slower than those of many developed countries, including Israel, Singapore and Canada. In Boston, Chicago and New York City, AT&T’s 5G speeds are at least 10% slower than its 4G; in Washington, Los Angeles and Austin, Texas, Verizon’s 5G speeds are at least 20% slower than the company’s 4G,” they write.

The United States’ failure doesn’t stop there. According to Schmidt and Allison, Chinese telecom giant Huawei, a firm that is sanctioned by Washington over security risks, still provides 5G infrastructure to 30 percent of the global market, including such nations as Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. Even now, no U.S. companies sell the technology in foreign jurisdictions.

“The pathetic U.S. performance in the 5G race is a sign of America’s larger failure to keep up with China on strategically important technologies,” the op-ed states. “China is also ahead of America in high-tech manufacturing, green energy and many applications of artificial intelligence.”

The authors criticize the hype that may lead viewers of AT&T and Verizon ads to believe that their 5G smartphones are state-of-the-art products leading the global market in terms of speed and reliability. According to Schmidt and Allison, the hype is a distraction from significant lags in 5G connectivity compared with what consumers in China enjoy thanks to Beijing’s intensive efforts to support and foster competitiveness in the tech space.

While many people will naturally assume that 5G mobile networks outpace the service that 4G makes available, this is seriously mistaken.

“Unless you are traveling internationally, you won’t enjoy faster speeds with a new 5G-enabled smartphone than you’d get on a 4G phone streaming games from New York, Los Angeles or many other cities. AT&T’s and Verizon’s new 5G networks are often significantly slower than the 4G networks they replace,” Schmidt and Allison write.

People arrive to attend the Huawei keynote address at the IFA 2020 Special Edition consumer electronics and appliances trade fair, in Berlin, on Sept. 3, 2020. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

Unequal Tech Investments

The authors blame the lack of U.S. competitiveness in the development and distribution of 5G technology on markedly different priorities in Beijing and Washington. They characterize as dysfunctional the relationship between Washington and the mobile industry in the United States, citing the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) “hysterics” around the 5G services being situated anywhere near U.S. airports. The FAA and others in the industry have expressed worries over the danger that 5G networks may interfere with planes’ internal systems.

In January, Verizon and AT&T agreed to temporarily postpone turning on 5G services at some U.S. airports. The corporations have been embroiled in a dispute with the airline industry, which has warned that turning on the services would affect thousands of flights.

Researchers have also fueled the controversy in recent weeks by calling attention to the adverse effects that electromagnetic fields generated by 5G networks may have on both people and wildlife.

By contrast, China’s government and tech sector appear unconcerned with such dangers. China channels what Schmidt and Allison call the most efficient piece of the wireless spectrum, midband, to 5G service providers, at a rate at least three times what the U.S. allocates.

A failure of vision may be partly to blame here.

“AT&T and Verizon are using the same spectrum bands for both their 4G and 5G networks. As a result, as one industry analyst aptly put it, their 5G networks are ‘just 4G with sprinkles on it,’” Schmidt and Allison write.

A lack of adequate investment in infrastructure is another culprit. The authors point out that the short wavelengths of 5G signals necessitate nearness to wireless base stations. While China has erected more than a million 5G base stations, there are only 100,000 in the U.S. The authors also criticize the lack of density of the U.S. fiber-optic network compared to that of other nations such as Japan.

But there is hope for America to catch up with China. Schmidt and Allison praise the Innovation and Competition Act, which will authorize spending $1.5 billion on 5G mobile networks through 2026. Even such an investment will be only a tiny shadow of the $100 billion that China is set to spend on its own 5G network over the next half-decade, but it is a step.

“The Biden administration should make 5G a national priority and take the lead in building digital highways across the country as the government did in creating our national highway system. Otherwise, China will own the 5G future,” the authors warn.