AT&T CEO calls for freeing up 5G spectrum, or else America risks falling behind
Good morning.
As a clarion call to Americans, freeing up mid-band spectrum for commercial use doesn’t exactly make the heart soar.
When you clarify that this is the optimal frequency for 5G networks, a few heads might nod. If you then explain how the U.S. has limited commercial access to this spectrum relative to other countries, because it sets aside a bigger portion for defense purposes and gives multiple agencies jurisdiction over access, more people might agree that the U.S. risks falling behind if its 5G networks can’t support growth in everything from autonomous vehicles to AI. And even more might understand if you make the case that the status quo could cost U.S. consumers a lot more money.
That’s what AT&T CEO John Stankey argues in this commentary we published yesterday. Does he have a vested interest in wanting the private sector to have access to more of this precious resource? Sure. But he makes a compelling case for Congress and a new Trump Administration to make that happen. (Earlier this year, the Senate allowed the auction authority of the Federal Communications Commission to lapse for the first time ever, adding a whole new layer of existential angst that’s yet to be fixed.)
I spoke with Stankey yesterday at the Fortune Global Forum. Here’s a video of our conversation. “We’ve gone from being first, second or third in the globe to 14th among developed countries right now,” he said. “We’re sliding, and we need to get back to doing the right thing.”
Telecom companies have spent billions to build out the wireless infrastructure to support their 5G networks. (AT&T says it invested more than $145 billion between 2019 and 2023.) Stankey and his peers argue that the industry needs policy clarity and access to spectrum to continue making those investments. Pentagon officials, however, argue that they need to safeguard the military use of such frequencies for activities like counter-drone detection, for example, before allowing commercial access. And, as Stankey and I discussed, there are also tough choices around how to power all these new technologies.
It’s a fascinating issue, one of many that we discussed over the two days of our Fortune Global Forum that wrapped up yesterday. (You can see a wrap-up of other key conversations here.) Next year, we’ll gather leaders of the world’s biggest and most innovative companies together in Riyadh for the 2025 Fortune Global Forum. His Excellency Fahd bin Abdulmohsan Al-Rasheed spoke about the partnership after catching a football toss yesterday from Tom Brady. Here’s a video of my conversation with Al-Rasheed about the scale of change in Saudi Arabia right now.
More news below.
Diane Brady
diane.brady@fortune.com
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