The transition to 5G is an imperative for modern economies to be competitive in coming decades. Huawei, a Chinese company, dominates the end-to-end production of all the technologies required for 5G conversions, including the 5G chips that will power billions of devices at the consumer and industrial level.

The United States already faces daunting challenges to catch up. Our telecommunications companies are not incentivized to build out networks that will drive down per-user network costs. Our costs for equipment, regulatory and environmental compliance, and labor far exceed those of other countries. And ironically, we would likely need Huawei to provide much of the equipment necessary for a large-scale buildout, and Huawei is restricted from doing business in the US. Most of all, we have painfully obvious lack of visionary or capable leadership who can see us through these challenges.

Resources and links:

Huawei, 5G, and the Fourth Industrial Revolution
https://www.herecomeschina.com/china-...

Deloitte, The Imperative of 5G Deployment
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam...

Statista, Who Is Leading the 5G Patent Race?
https://www.statista.com/chart/20095/...

5G graphics
https://www.thalesgroup.com/en/market...

China Tower
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_T...

Closing scenes, Jiulong Waterfalls, Yunnan Province