5G and Beyond to 6G: Opportunities for the Biden Administration and 117th Congress

The Biden administration has taken office at a critical juncture in the Geotech competition, while the 117th Congress has the opportunity to make Geotech legislative proposals reality. Growing consensuses about the competition of democracy vs. authoritarianism and the importance of innovation leadership are breaking through partisanship in Washington while opening opportunities for cooperation with allied partners. At the same time, lessons that we have already learned from the early stages of this competition can be applied to the decisions we make today, which will, in turn, set the path for future innovation leadership.

Over the past two years, the Center for the Study of the Presidency & Congress (CSPC) has examined these issues. Through in-person and virtual roundtables, interviews, and research, CSPC seeks perspectives from policymakers, private sector leaders, and academic experts from the United States and key Geotech allies and partners. While a range of technologies are important parts of the Geotech portfolio, 5G technologies—and the future beyond to 6G technologies—are of particular interest due to its vital importance for future connectivity.

This report looks at current Geotech proposals with a particular focus on 5G and its future beyond to 6G. 5G is a field where this challenge was recognized in the early stages of Geotech competition, yet one where important decisions still remain for the future of 5G and the path towards leadership in 6G technologies. 5G technology provides higher speed connections with lower latency and energy use. Beyond providing faster connections for smartphones, 5G has the potential to reshape entire industries and fuel economic prosperity and job growth. Even as 5G’s roll out is underway—and should not be considered “finished” in any way—many are turning attention to 6G leadership, including the Chinese Communist Party. Fortunately, many of the actions that we can take for 5G success serve to put us on the path to 6G leadership, while many of the lessons from the 5G race can serve as guideposts for 6G policy making.

Successive administrations have recognized Beijing’s Geotech challenge to the United States and our allies, but the most significant shift in policies came during the Trump administration. The Biden administration has continued many of these policies, identifying it as a generational challenge and, ultimately, a verdict on democracy. In his first press conference, President Biden said of his China policies, “Your children or grandchildren are going to be doing their doctoral thesis on who succeeded, autocracy or democracy, because that is what at stake. We have got to prove democracy works.”1 At the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue, the 117th Congress also has the opportunity to build on past bipartisan Geotech lawmaking and current proposals to address this competitive challenge and foster innovation leadership. These efforts, along with cooperation with our allies and partners, serve to counter Beijing’s influence and foster democracies’ innovation leadership. Together, these opportunities provide the future investments, partnerships, and planning for needed leadership in current 5G and future 6G technologies.