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Developing countries across the globe are installing or upgrading their digital infrastructure. But choosing a telecommunications vendor involves weighing factors such as cost, efficiency, quality, and security. The Covid-19 pandemic drove home the importance of connectivity and secure networks, over which information on e-commerce, education, financial services, and health—as well as national security—must pass. China has initially taken the lead in this sector by providing telecommunications solutions and financing primarily to countries in the Indo-Pacific and Africa through the Belt and Road Initiative's Digital Silk Road (DSR). The DSR encompasses investments in wireless networks, surveillance cameras, subsea cables, and satellites. The United States has consistently raised security concerns about China’s digital technology investments, citing questions of national security, cybersecurity, personal security, and intellectual property, as well as the potential for authoritarian nations to surveil their own citizens.
The United States and its partners have the financial and technical tools to provide safer and cost-effective technology to help bridge the digital divide in the Global South, where competition for high-quality digital infrastructure plays into broader great power tensions. In recent years, Washington has established agencies, initiatives, and partnerships to prioritize ICT projects overseas, including investments in wireless networks, Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) technology, surveillance cameras, subsea cables, mobile handsets, and satellites, as well as systems upgrades from 2G and 3G to 5G and beyond. The U.S. and its partners and allies must recognize the need for speed and affordability in host country decisionmaking and make the case that their provisions are a viable alternative. The foundation for doing so exists, but the road map calls for more focus and consistency, as well as further monitoring of results to track accountability and proof of concept.
This report was made possible by the support of the Open RAN Policy Coalition.
