Why 5G Mobile Is Arriving With a Subplot of Espionage

The 5G wireless technology now being introduced by phone companies promises to bring a world of innovations to mobile service -- from connected appliances to self-driving cars -- just as its predecessors made it possible for phones to become handheld computers. The first big upgrade to the world’s mobile-phone networks in a decade also promises a new round of global technology competition. The race to build 5G overlaps with arguments over its security that have pitted the U.S. and some of its allies against China and have raised tensions in the industry, to the dismay of telecom executives who fear the rollout could be delayed.

The name stands for fifth-generation wireless network technology. 5G is the successor to 4G, the current top-of-the-line network technology first introduced commercially in 2009. The new service could end up being 100 times faster than its predecessor, with data speeds reaching 10 gigabits per second. That would allow consumers to download a full-length high-definition movie in seconds. Part of that speed comes from an architecture that processes some data locally, without having to pass everything back through the network for processing in remote data centers. 5G will also allow a leap forward by the “internet of things” -- the ballooning number of linked products, from smart refrigerators to traffic lights to dog collars, that will be sending and receiving data.