By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. communications regulator, wireless companies and some lawmakers oppose an idea by members of President Donald Trump's national security team for the government to build a 5G wireless network to counter China spying on phone calls.
The Trump administration has taken a harder line with China on policies initiated by predecessor President Barack Obama on issues ranging from Beijing's role in restraining North Korea to Chinese efforts to acquire U.S. strategic industries.
The option of a nationalized 5G network was being discussed by Trump's national security team, an administration official said on Sunday.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said on Monday that discussions were at "the very earliest stages" to ensure a "secure network," and "absolutely no decisions" have been made.
The government has blocked a string of Chinese acquisitions over national security concerns and the 5G network concept is aimed at addressing what officials see as China's threat to U.S. cyber security and economic security.
But the option was rejected by several of those who would have a say.
"Any federal effort to construct a nationalized 5G network would be a costly and counterproductive distraction from the policies we need to help the United States win the 5G future," Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Ajit Pai, a Republican appointed by Trump, said in a statement on Monday.
CTIA, the trade group that represents AT&T Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, Apple Inc, Sprint Corp and others, said in a statement on Monday that the "government should pursue the free market policies that enabled the U.S. wireless industry to win the race to 4G."
Carriers have already spent billions of dollars acquiring spectrum and beginning to develop and test 5G networks, which are expected to be at least 100 times faster than current 4G networks and cut latency to less than one thousandth of a second from one one hundredth of a second in 4G, the FCC said.
The more responsive networks could allow, for example, for real-time remote operations such as medical procedures and running large machines.
A U.S.-built 5G network could in theory be more resilient to Chinese government intrusions. A leaked National Security Council memo published by Axios news website on Sunday said China is the dominant manufacturer of network infrastructure and notes the importance of building the network with "equipment from a trusted supply chain."
The primary suppliers for the 5G networks in the United States are expected to be firms such as Nokia and Ericsson, with networking firms such as Juniper Networks, Cisco Systems and Qualcomm Inc supplying chips and back end equipment. It was unclear whether the option discussed would involve working with those companies.