Nellis AFB to test 5G network beginning in January 2021

The Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center are working together to build a fifth-generation, or 5G, cellular network, for testing at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, according to the Pentagon.

"The Defense Department recognizes 5G technology is vital to maintaining America's military and economic advantages," Dr. Joseph Evans, DOD technical director for 5G and the lead for the department's 5G development effort, said Thursday in a press release.

"We expect to start construction on the network at Nellis in July and have it fully operational in January of next year," Evans said.

According to the Department of Defense, the network will feature relocatable cell towers that can be set up and taken down in less than an hour, and testing will involve mobile operations centers where team members can use the network while on the move.

Only users participating in testing will have access to the network, the Pentagon said.

Testing at Nellis will begin in January 2021 and continue in three year-long phases.

Nellis is the fifth military base the Pentagon has selected for 5G prototyping and experimentation.

Utah's Hill Air Force Base announced in November that it will test use of the technology in congested environments.

Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state, Naval Base San Diego in California, and Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga., have also been selected for 5G testing.

While the DoD is investing in 5G testing at its own facilities, Pentagon officials have also been sharply critical of the proposal for a nationwide 5G network put forward by Ligado Networks and approved by the Federal Communications Commission earlier this spring.

That proposal would allow Ligado to build a network using the L-band spectrum that runs adjacent to the spectrum used for global positioning systems, which form the basis for most mapping software.

The FCC has maintained that it intends to go forward with the buildout as planned, but other federal agencies -- including the National Telecommunications and Information Administration -- have petitioned the FCC to rescind its approval of the Ligado proposal.

Britain pushing US to form 5G club to cut out Huawei: report
London (AFP) May 29, 2020 - Britain wants the United States to form a club of 10 nations that could develop its own 5G technology and reduce dependence on China's Huawei, The Times newspaper reported Friday.

The reported proposal comes ahead of a planned G7 summit that US President Donald Trump hopes to host next month.

Britain has allowed the Chinese global leader in 5G technology to build up to 35 percent of the infrastructure necessary to roll out its new speedy data network.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson was reported by The Telegraph newspaper last week to have instructed officials to draw up plans to cut Huawei out of the network by 2023 as relations with China sour.

Now, The Times reports Britain is proposing a "D10" club of democratic partners that would include the G7 nations, Australia, South Korea and India.

It said one of the options involved channelling investments into existing telecommunication companies within the 10 member states.

Johnson's office issued no immediate comment on the report.

Finland's Nokia and Sweden's Ericsson are Europe's only current alternative options for supplying 5G equipment such as antennas and relay masts.

"We need new entrants to the market," a UK government source told The Times.

"That was the reason we ended up having to go along with Huawei at the time."

Johnson's decision this year to include Huawei angered Washington because it believes that the private Chinese company can either spy on Western communications or simply shut down the UK network under orders from Beijing.

But his reported plan to eventually cut Huawei out of the network could significantly complicate London's relations with China just as Johnson seeks new trade partners following Britain's exit from the EU.

Johnson challenged his US critics in January to come up with an alternative to Huawei if they did not want Britain to use the Chinese firm.

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