What is the deal with 5G?
And why are the U.S. and China going to war over it?
Well, we'll try and break it down for you
in our ongoing segment,
"If You Don't Know, Now You know."
-♪ ♪ -(cheering, applause)
So, what exactly is the big deal about 5G?
Because you might think it's just 4G but a little bit faster.
But it's actually a lot faster.
So fast, in fact, that it could change the world.
NEWSMAN: The new world of 5G technology promises
to transform our lives, connecting millions of devices
and enabling everything from driverless cars
to smart homes.
Up to 20 times faster than the 4G most of us use now,
5G's lightning-fast technology will accelerate
and interconnect everything.
To download a two-hour film on 3G
would take about 26 hours.
On 4G, you'd be waiting six minutes.
And on 5G, you'll be ready to watch your film
in just over three and a half seconds.
Damn. You could download an entire movie
in three seconds.
That's gonna be fast.
I mean, we'll still spend 45 minutes
trying to decide which movie to download...
but once we've decided,
we'll need to go to bed 'cause we're tired,
but tomorrow, three seconds, my friends!
And 5G isn't just about download speeds.
It's a game changer for everything.
Like, with 5G, you can have cities
where everything communicates.
Like, doctors can perform surgeries
from the other side of the world.
Can you imagine a world where your videos never buffer?
Right? Your calls never drop?
That would be amazing.
Except I guess now you could never fake
a call dropping with 5G.
Yeah, 'cause that excuse is gone.
You'd be like, "Uh, uh, I'm los... I'm losing...
you're breaking up." Be like, "Mother (bleep),
you're not breaking up! We got 5G!"
Be like, "Yeah, yeah, you're right.
-Carry on, Grandma." -(laughter)
Yes, my grandma is Samuel L. Jackson.
-(laughter) -So...
so, look, there's no denying, the technology is great.
But... why do China and the U.S. care so much about who makes it?
Well, it's the same reason they care about anything:
the Benjamins, baby.
NEWSMAN: When the U.S. won the 4G race earlier this decade,
it provided a nearly $100 billion boost
to gross domestic product.
And the stakes of the 5G race are even higher.
If the U.S. wins, it would create
an estimated three million jobs
and add approximately $500 billion to GDP.
That's right, if America wins the 5G race,
that could bring millions of jobs and $500 billion
to the country's GDP.
$500 billion.
You know how hard it is to get $500 billion?
Like, you'd have to marry and divorce Jeff Bezos five times.
-(laughter) -And I mean after the fourth time,
he'd probably catch on-- he'd be like,
"I think you don't love me." "What? Me, Jeff?"
And the fight about 5G isn't just about money
and downloading Avengers like that.
No, it's also about power.
Because if you control 5G, you have access to everything
people are doing online, which is everything.
And right now, the best 5G technology
is made by a Chinese company called Huawei.
And because the Chinese company
is Chinese...
many governments don't trust how secure it's gonna be.
NEWSMAN: Huawei may be best known to most people
for making phones, but it's also a leading player
in building the infrastructure for all our communications.
Critics fear that allowing it to build 5G
could enable the Chinese state to spy on
or even switch off the flow of data
we will all depend on.
Imagine that.
If Huawei becomes the leading 5G provider in the world,
then China can spy on everyone,
which is terrible,
because that's what America wants to do.
Yeah. And I know you're judging.
"Well, if America wants to do it, then how do they judge...?"
That's not the point, all right.
You want to do it first.
It's like when you cut someone off in traffic
and then someone else cuts in front of you, you're like,
"Hey, asshole, that was my move!"
But those are the stakes: job, money and power.
And I'm not gonna try and bore you
with all the technical details,
but while America is developing its own 5G,
China's 5G is so far ahead.
Like, they're basically gonna set the trends.
It's like how back in the day there used to be
a fight between DVD and laser disk. Yeah.
And if you're wondering, "What the hell is laser disk?"
Exactly, yeah.
That's America's 5G.
So this is a race many people
are already saying America has lost.
Luckily-- and I can't believe I'm saying this--
America is lucky that you have a maniac on your team
who's willing to play dirty.
President Trump has signed an executive order
banning U.S. companies from using telecom equipment
deemed to be a national security threat.
And that's a direct shot at China
and its tech giant Huawei.
TV REPORTER: As the U.S. clamp down on the company causes
a major domino effect, the U.K.'s biggest mobile network
pulling Huawei from its 5G launch,
while three of Japan's mobile operators
have stopped taking orders, or delayed the summer release
of a new Huawei phone.
Donald J. Mother-effing-Trump.
This guy could see America wasn't gonna win,
so he just got a crowbar
and pulled a Tonya Harding on China's 5G.
Just went in straight there.
Yeah, the man might not know what 5G is,
but he does know how to mess up other people's shit.
Just in there.
Bam!
(cheers and applause)
And I'm gonna be honest with you.
I don't actually blame Donald Trump,
because I don't know how else America can win this race.
Because even if America does manage
to cripple Huawei and China,
it's not like America will suddenly have great 5G.
All right, you won't just have 5G overnight.
Unless...
America just pretends that it does.
TV REPORTER: AT&T is putting a fake 5G logo
on iPhones and iPads now.
The company confirming to PC Magazine
the the new icon is gonna show up when users download
Apple's latest beta version of iOS 12.2.
But it's not really 5G.
AT&T just changed the name
for its 4G LTE Advanced network to 5GE.
The "e” stands for evolution.
(laughter)
Okay, guys, that...
That's really sad.
AT&T is just gonna lie and put another sticker--
Like, it's like you have a Smart car,
and then you just tape Lamborghini on the side of it.
"Check it out, man, I'm driving a Lambo now.
Zero to 60 in four minutes flat.”
But...
Seeing as it's a race that might be lost,
AT&T might be on to something here.
Because this is considered the new space race.
So maybe America can win this race
the same way it won the last one:
Just fake it, baby.