What We Don’t Know About 5G and Telecom Networks Can Hurt Us.

(But Not in the Ways We Might Think) 

Unfounded fears around rollout of 5G in the U.S. could end up being more costly to our national interest than we might imagine. In fact, the truth could set us free.  

5G, the fifth generation of mobile networks, is coming. The big questions are how quickly and where. Unfortunately, some fundamental myths and misconceptions may be keeping the U.S. from embracing the future and leading the world. Widespread perceived but unfounded concerns about security risks associated with 5G and telecom networks may put us at risk of falling behind the rest of the world at this pivotal time. 

No one doubts that 5G will mean more than faster speeds to download videos, send texts or use devices. It will also enable a huge leap in cloud computing and “the internet of things,” such as medical devices, digital assistants and transportation systems. If the race to 5G is, in fact, a race at all (it’s practically far more of a collaborative than competitive journey) the United States could be seen as lagging behind, ranking 20th in internet speed last year.  

But there’s great promise for a strong 5G rollout here, where we lead in existing 4G networks as well as spectrum efficiency, permitting the repurposing of broadcast spectrum for broadband. Last year, when the FCC voted unanimously to open nearly 11 GHz of high-frequency spectrum for mobile, flexible, and fixed-use wireless broadband for the 5G future, numerous vendors and providers began clamoring to make the most of this advantage by launching new trials in more markets. The best road into the new information age will likely be created through partnerships and the rules of that road agreed upon through understanding and access to accurate information, facts, and clearer understanding of how 5G will actually work.  

Contrary to uncertainty around issues of cyber security, 5G is not less secure than 4G as it inherits the same security environment. This next generation technology builds on, and will also provide enhancements to, the previous generations (3G and 4G) with respect to both security and privacy. In fact, 5G will actually be more secure in future iterations as they evolve, through many layers of controls. 

Among the concerns that everything is at risk with 5G is a misperception that the Core (the brains of the network) and RAN (the arms and legs) will no longer be separate. In the current and near-term versions of the 5G technology, these functions maintain clearly defined boundaries, as detailed in the standards for these networks. Core and RAN are still separate in 5G and will be into the foreseeable future.  

There have also been widespread misrepresentations about vendor networks not being compatible or interoperable in 5G. While there are some limitations, the whole concept of having global telecommunications standards is to ensure the operators have choice. Operators and vendors are working together, sharing risks in security. There are also proven risk-based approaches to security already outlined by government agencies such as NIST that can be employed to make current and future networks safer.

While vendors must develop secure and security-enabling products, operators, (who control networks and access to the data) assume the primary risk of network and data security. Vendors do not have uncontrolled access to these networks or the data contained in them. Even if asked by some authority, such a vendor (like Huawei) simply could not comply to requests for inappropriate data collection or malicious behavior, not only due to strictly controlled network access as well as laws and regulations in these countries, but also to guiding principles of privacy and security.

The next level of 5G standards are still in development and international collaborative efforts specifically focused on further improving security are ongoing. These efforts will bring more secure communication and stronger security mechanisms to protect privacy as established by the global standards bodies that develop the international standards on which all vendors in this space must operate.