Trump to Develop National Strategy on ‘5G’ Wireless Networks

NEW YORK (AP) — The Trump administration is announcing plans to come up with a strategy for supporting the development of next-generation wireless networks known as “5G.”

The administration isn’t calling for any specific action other than reports from various agencies due in about six months, and the development of the strategy itself in about nine months. It released a presidential memo on the subject Thursday, days ahead of the highly contested midterm elections on Nov. 6.

Big wireless telecoms such as AT&T T and Verizon VZ are spending billions creating their own 5G networks which are designed to support far more high-speed mobile video watching than current networks support, a growing number of smart devices in the home and even self-driving cars over the coming years.