Ain’t So Great –
and Ain’t So Invisible
There was underway a highly disquieting hostile Tech Sector takeover.
Corporate wrecking ball Broadcom – the Singapore king of breaking big companies into little sellable pieces – was looking to unpleasantly acquire United States innovation company Qualcomm.
Qualcomm is the chief reason why We the People are the global leaders on all things wireless – cellular networks, cell phones and all the attending amazingness.
To cite but one of countless examples, it was a woman Qualcomm engineer who invented the way cell phones can connect to the Internet. (In a personal geek moment – I got to meet her. Very cool.)
This was a quantum moment. Think of the hundreds of billions of dollars of economic activity that one invention alone unleashed.
Qualcomm has spent the last two decades – and tens of billions of dollars – creating all sorts of amazing things like this. Thereby leading the charge towards the next monster revolution – Fifth Generation (5G) wireless:
““(T)he proposed next telecommunications standards beyond the current 4G/IMT-Advanced standards….5G planning aims at higher capacity than current 4G, allowing a higher density of mobile broadband users, and supporting device-to-device, more reliable, and massive machine communications. 5G research and development also aims at lower latency than 4G equipment and lower battery consumption, for better implementation of the Internet of Things.”
“5G will be to the wireless Web and devices of all sorts what the advent of the Internet was to the computer. Only MUCH bigger.
“Internet of Things (IoT): ‘(T)he network of physical devices, vehicles, home appliances and other items embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and connectivity which enables these objects to connect and exchange data. Each thing is uniquely identifiable through its embedded computing system but is able to inter-operate within the existing Internet infrastructure….The IoT allows objects to be sensed or controlled remotely across existing network infrastructure, creating opportunities for more direct integration of the physical world into computer-based systems, and resulting in improved efficiency, accuracy and economic benefit in addition to reduced human intervention.’
“Currently, Qualcomm is in the lead in developing 5G. Which means the United States is in the lead in developing 5G. Which is a very good thing.
“Because we don’t want an authoritarian government like that of Communist China, which is currently in distant second place, determining the future of the Internet of Everything. Which is what 5G will be.”
Thanks in no small part to Qualcomm, we are now just a couple of years away from the beginnings of 5G rollout.
Which China…really doesn’t like. And out of nowhere came Broadcom and their corporate piracy:
“Broadcom will kill Qualcomm’s (research and development) R & D. Because R & D is long-term – and thus doesn’t produce the immediate stock price increases that killing it would.
“Which means our nation’s leading on all things 5G will immediately come to a complete halt – as Communist China speeds past us into the controlling lead on the Internet of Everything.”
“Oh – and Qualcomm does lots of business with the U.S. government. And does so with a Top Secret facility security clearance.
“All of this – and more…is a bit of a national security problem.”
Indeed all of this is. And President Donald Trump…readily recognized it.
Trump Blocks Broadcom from Buying Qualcomm, Citing National Security: “The president issued the executive order on a recommendation by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, which reviews acquisitions of American firms by foreign investors.
“The decision to block the deal was unveiled hours after Broadcom Chief Executive Hock Tan met with security officials at the Pentagon in a last-ditch effort to salvage the transaction.
“‘There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Broadcom Ltd.’ by acquiring San Diego-based Qualcomm ‘might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States,’ Trump said in the executive order.”
American politicians so rarely do the right thing – we are shocked and stunned when it happens. And are often stultified into forgetting to thank them.
After more than a year of consistent Trump goodness – the newness should be waning. The thankfulness should be waxing.
It certainly is for me.
Thank you very much for this wise and brilliant move, Mister President.
This first appeared in Red State.