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Why Controlling 5G Could Mean Controlling the World
Podcast

Why Controlling 5G Could Mean Controlling the World

The Daily podcast



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8

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  • Eye Opening
  • Overview
  • Hot Topic

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At the Munich Security Conference 2019, US vice president Mike Pence urged allies to shun China’s 5G infrastructure. As a response, Huawei’s founder publicly thanked US officials for providing free publicity. What may sound like a histrionic schoolyard drama is in fact the clashing of giants over future global dominance. In this episode of The New York Times podcast The Daily, host Michael Barbaro and the paper’s national security correspondent David Sanger explain 5G’s possible impact on world politics.

Summary

The next, super-fast generation of mobile communication – 5G – is around the corner, and it will run the Internet of Things (IoT), enabling self-driving cars, smart cities and fully connected homes. By around mid-2020, governments will be making decisions about 5G, among them the crucial question that sits at the heart of global security: Who will they hire to build their 5G infrastructures? And once that decision is made, it will be difficult to switch to a new provider. The companies and, by extension, countries that provide 5G will have “an economic, intelligence and military edge...

About the Podcast

The Daily is a New York Times podcast with host Michael Barbaro. This episode features David E. Sanger, a national security correspondent for The New York Times.