
Episode 212
Wireless Wars: China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G | Jon Pelson

Episode 212
Jon Pelson
Wireless Wars: China’s Dangerous Domination of 5G | Jon Pelson
summary
In Episode 212 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with telecom industry veteran and author of “Wireless Wars,” Jon Pelson, about how American companies invented cellular technology, transferred that technology to China, and then sat by and watched as their Chinese competitors drove them out of business.
He shares stories from the executives and scientists who built the industry, as well as those of Western politicians, businesspeople, and members of the military who cooperated with and in some cases actively aided the Chinese government and its state champions in their efforts to overtake and crush their western competitors.
The first part of today’s conversation is spent familiarizing listeners with 5G technology, how it works, and why it’s important to the future of automation, commerce, and national security. Pelson also goes into some of the details around technology transfers, the rise of Huawei, and the relationship between the Chinese telecommunications industry and the CCP.
The episode Overtime focuses mainly on how China uses our weaknesses against us, corrupting public officials and top corporate executives in their effort to overtake American companies in key industries that the Chinese Communist Party deems vital for its national security and global ambitions. Jon also explains how the United States can fight back, turning those same weaknesses into strengths by leveraging a culture of permissionless innovation to retake the lead in global telecommunications and related industries that are vital for the long-term competitiveness of American industry & national security.
You can access the second part of this episode, as well as the transcript and rundown to this week’s conversation through the Hidden Forces Supercast Page. All subscribers gain access to our premium feed, which can be easily added to your favorite podcast application.
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Producer & Host: Demetri Kofinas
Editor & Engineer: Stylianos Nicolaou
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Follow Demetri on Twitter at @Kofinas
Episode Recorded on 09/20/2021
bio
Jon Pelson joined Lucent Technologies during the telecom boom of the ‘90s, after an early career as a writer and marketer with Young & Rubicam. While at Lucent, Jon helped create and market some of the company’s breakthrough technology solutions. He later served as the Chief of Convergence Strategy for British Telecom, developing a global wireless plan for the company. During his time with these and other telecom companies, he traveled to China and saw that country’s fledgling telecommunications companies grow and eventually seize the world lead. With deep personal experience in the sector and rare access to the people who ran the world’s largest telecom companies, he decided to investigate how the lead was lost to the Chinese and what we could do to take it back. Jon has a degree in economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Cur tantas regiones barbarorum pedibus obiit, tot maria transmisit? Quis animo aequo videt eum, quem inpure ac flagitiose putet vivere? Deinde qui fit, ut ego nesciam, sciant omnes, quicumque Epicurei esse voluerunt? Sequitur disserendi ratio cognitioque naturae; Ex quo, id quod omnes expetunt, beate vivendi ratio inveniri et comparari potest. Fortemne possumus dicere eundem illum Torquatum? Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Respondent extrema primis, media utrisque, omnia omnibus. Quasi vero, inquit, perpetua oratio rhetorum solum, non etiam philosophorum sit. Dolor ergo, id est summum malum, metuetur semper, etiamsi non aderit; Quasi vero, inquit, perpetua oratio rhetorum solum, non etiam philosophorum sit. Pugnant Stoici cum Peripateticis. Nec tamen ullo modo summum pecudis bonum et hominis idem mihi videri potest.
At iam decimum annum in spelunca iacet. Sed quoniam et advesperascit et mihi ad villam revertendum est, nunc quidem hactenus; At cum de plurimis eadem dicit, tum certe de maximis. Qua igitur re ab deo vincitur, si aeternitate non vincitur? Vitae autem degendae ratio maxime quidem illis placuit quieta. Semper enim ex eo, quod maximas partes continet latissimeque funditur, tota res appellatur. Nos quidem Virtutes sic natae sumus, ut tibi serviremus, aliud negotii nihil habemus.
An hoc usque quaque, aliter in vita? Huius, Lyco, oratione locuples, rebus ipsis ielunior. Quam ob rem tandem, inquit, non satisfacit? Dulce amarum, leve asperum, prope longe, stare movere, quadratum rotundum. Sed quot homines, tot sententiae; Si stante, hoc natura videlicet vult, salvam esse se, quod concedimus; Tu vero, inquam, ducas licet, si sequetur; Unum est sine dolore esse, alterum cum voluptate.
Et harum quidem rerum facilis est et expedita distinctio. Summus dolor plures dies manere non potest? Nam illud vehementer repugnat, eundem beatum esse et multis malis oppressum. Et ille ridens: Video, inquit, quid agas; Quantum Aristoxeni ingenium consumptum videmus in musicis? Si mala non sunt, iacet omnis ratio Peripateticorum.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Dicet pro me ipsa virtus nec dubitabit isti vestro beato M. Uterque enim summo bono fruitur, id est voluptate. Nondum autem explanatum satis, erat, quid maxime natura vellet. Cum praesertim illa perdiscere ludus esset. An dolor longissimus quisque miserrimus, voluptatem non optabiliorem diuturnitas facit? Duo Reges: constructio interrete.
Sin te auctoritas commovebat, nobisne omnibus et Platoni ipsi nescio quem illum anteponebas? Itaque nostrum est-quod nostrum dico, artis est-ad ea principia, quae accepimus. Expressa vero in iis aetatibus, quae iam confirmatae sunt. Incommoda autem et commoda-ita enim estmata et dustmata appello-communia esse voluerunt, paria noluerunt. Quorum altera prosunt, nocent altera. Quis istud possit, inquit, negare? Tu vero, inquam, ducas licet, si sequetur;
Verum hoc idem saepe faciamus. Dic in quovis conventu te omnia facere, ne doleas. Quid, si etiam iucunda memoria est praeteritorum malorum? Sed finge non solum callidum eum, qui aliquid improbe faciat, verum etiam praepotentem, ut M. Quod autem ratione actum est, id officium appellamus. Haec dicuntur inconstantissime.
Quamquam tu hanc copiosiorem etiam soles dicere. Nec tamen ullo modo summum pecudis bonum et hominis idem mihi videri potest. Quid igitur dubitamus in tota eius natura quaerere quid sit effectum? Illis videtur, qui illud non dubitant bonum dicere -; Negat esse eam, inquit, propter se expetendam. An vero displicuit ea, quae tributa est animi virtutibus tanta praestantia? Cur igitur, cum de re conveniat, non malumus usitate loqui?
intelligence report
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Piso, familiaris noster, et alia multa et hoc loco Stoicos irridebat: Quid enim? Videmus igitur ut conquiescere ne infantes quidem possint. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Deinde prima illa, quae in congressu solemus: Quid tu, inquit, huc? Illa tamen simplicia, vestra versuta. Quaerimus enim finem bonorum. Suam denique cuique naturam esse ad vivendum ducem. Quicquid porro animo cernimus, id omne oritur a sensibus; Quarum ambarum rerum cum medicinam pollicetur, luxuriae licentiam pollicetur.
In qua quid est boni praeter summam voluptatem, et eam sempiternam? Honesta oratio, Socratica, Platonis etiam. Non semper, inquam; Habes, inquam, Cato, formam eorum, de quibus loquor, philosophorum. Estne, quaeso, inquam, sitienti in bibendo voluptas? Magni enim aestimabat pecuniam non modo non contra leges, sed etiam legibus partam. Illud mihi a te nimium festinanter dictum videtur, sapientis omnis esse semper beatos; Princeps huius civitatis Phalereus Demetrius cum patria pulsus esset iniuria, ad Ptolomaeum se regem Alexandream contulit.
Nam et complectitur verbis, quod vult, et dicit plane, quod intellegam; Dic in quovis conventu te omnia facere, ne doleas. Quid de Pythagora? Graece donan, Latine voluptatem vocant. Diodorus, eius auditor, adiungit ad honestatem vacuitatem doloris. Non est igitur summum malum dolor. Ergo instituto veterum, quo etiam Stoici utuntur, hinc capiamus exordium. Materiam vero rerum et copiam apud hos exilem, apud illos uberrimam reperiemus.
Tubulum fuisse, qua illum, cuius is condemnatus est rogatione, P. Sin tantum modo ad indicia veteris memoriae cognoscenda, curiosorum. Cur igitur easdem res, inquam, Peripateticis dicentibus verbum nullum est, quod non intellegatur? Quae similitudo in genere etiam humano apparet. Ex rebus enim timiditas, non ex vocabulis nascitur. Ut enim consuetudo loquitur, id solum dicitur honestum, quod est populari fama gloriosum. Vives, inquit Aristo, magnifice atque praeclare, quod erit cumque visum ages, numquam angere, numquam cupies, numquam timebis. Sed ea mala virtuti magnitudine obruebantur.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. In schola desinis. Atque haec ita iustitiae propria sunt, ut sint virtutum reliquarum communia. Quod praeceptum quia maius erat, quam ut ab homine videretur, idcirco assignatum est deo. Duo Reges: constructio interrete. Bona autem corporis huic sunt, quod posterius posui, similiora.
Beatus autem esse in maximarum rerum timore nemo potest. Laelius clamores sofòw ille so lebat Edere compellans gumias ex ordine nostros. Tum Triarius: Posthac quidem, inquit, audacius. Quamvis enim depravatae non sint, pravae tamen esse possunt. Cur igitur, inquam, res tam dissimiles eodem nomine appellas? Quia dolori non voluptas contraria est, sed doloris privatio.
Quia nec honesto quic quam honestius nec turpi turpius. Theophrastus mediocriterne delectat, cum tractat locos ab Aristotele ante tractatos? Ergo adhuc, quantum equidem intellego, causa non videtur fuisse mutandi nominis. Deinde prima illa, quae in congressu solemus: Quid tu, inquit, huc? Eorum enim est haec querela, qui sibi cari sunt seseque diligunt. Quid, si non sensus modo ei sit datus, verum etiam animus hominis? Tum ille: Ain tandem?
Quid, quod homines infima fortuna, nulla spe rerum gerendarum, opifices denique delectantur historia? Nam adhuc, meo fortasse vitio, quid ego quaeram non perspicis. Quas enim kakaw Graeci appellant, vitia malo quam malitias nominare. Sed quid attinet de rebus tam apertis plura requirere? Si alia sentit, inquam, alia loquitur, numquam intellegam quid sentiat; Eodem modo is enim tibi nemo dabit, quod, expetendum sit, id esse laudabile. Hic nihil fuit, quod quaereremus. Universa enim illorum ratione cum tota vestra confligendum puto. Quod dicit Epicurus etiam de voluptate, quae minime sint voluptates, eas obscurari saepe et obrui.