Scott Wallsten: “Hey, we might need that wall… to stop Mexico’s state-run 5G network” (The Hill)

The Trump administration’s infrastructure plan brings Republicans and Democrats together. This flash of bipartisanship establishes something of a streak. The administration’s infrastructure proposal for a government-designed wireless network, leaked from the White House two weeks ago, was quickly denounced by those on both sides of the aisle. But the mobile technology gambit deserves a bit more explanation. The idea floated was considerably worse than commonly understood. To promote the coming wave of ultra-fast 5G (fifth-generation) technology and to counter Chinese rivals, the plan contends the government should seize the “commanding heights” of the mobile market by setting aside airwaves for a state-managed carrier. This operator, the report argued, would support U.S. innovation, expand U.S. consumer choice and improve American cybersecurity. The means to these admirable ends were dubious and dangerous. A contemplated pivot away from market competition — the product of a longstanding consensus that dispatched the old, staid Ma Bell monopoly with an array of robust networks, devices and mobile app ecosystems — reached back into the dustbin of history, reprising methods that long stymied progress. And it undercut claims that Washington seeks to avoid micromanagement of the economy.