HUDSON INSTITUTE 5G TECHNOLOGICAL LEADERSHIP
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FORUM FOR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
5G Technological Leadership
December 2020
Introduction
As the promise of the next-generation mobile
communications technology becomes clearer, policymakers
are increasingly focusing on the technological and policy
foundations of 5G leadership. The mobile revolution has
already delivered unimagined benets the world over from
innovative apps delivering healthcare services to remote
villages in developing countries to the equally innovative
development of the “sharing economy” with Uber and
Airbnb. 5G promises to go even further. It will not be merely
a marginal improvement over the previous generations
of cellular standards but will instead bring what many
have called the “next industrial revolution.”
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5G will make
everything more interconnected and efcient—from nancial
services to national defense to power grids to basic utilities
provided in smart cities. Estimates predict that by 2035 5G
will contribute over $13.2 trillion to the global economy.
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Given the importance that 5G will have for the US innovation
economy, policymakers have focused on promoting and
securing 5G leadership. They have also become concerned
about the national security implications of 5G leadership
for at least two reasons. First, they are concerned about
economic and other vulnerabilities being exploited by potential
adversaries via foreign entities manufacturing or owning
the underlying physical infrastructure.
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Second, they are
concerned about the national security implications of simply
falling behind in technological leadership as such.
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In sum, 5G
technological leadership matters both for economic growth
and for national security.
The policy discussion about 5G leadership, though,
has been mired in confusion. 5G represents a complex
technological and commercial ecosystem, and commentary
about 5G leadership has been misdirected by mistaken
assumptions. In the interest of promoting policy discussions
grounded in the proper technological and economic
evidence, this Statement highlights two essential facts that
must inform all discussions about 5G leadership: (1) 5G
hardware and infrastructure is only one of the many layers
of a much larger 5G ecosystem, and (2)patent counting
is an unreliable methodology to identify the leading 5G
technological innovators.
5G Infrastructure is Only One of the
Many Layers of the 5G Ecosystem
Many commentators and policymakers focus on the hardware
and telecommunications infrastructure when discussing 5G
leadership and national security.
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Hardware and infrastructure
are important. But they are not the only components of the
innovation ecosystem represented by 5G, nor are they the only
important ones when it comes to national security.
5G represents a multi-layered technological ecosystem.
The foundation of this ecosystem is the 5G transmission
technology—the technical standard developed through the
