Trump unveils 5G initiatives

April 12 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump said Friday he prefers for the federal government to stay out of the nation's development of 5G, but promised the United States would "win" the race on the wireless network.

The president announced a number of new initiatives to propel the expansion and use of 5G and be a world leader on the technology.

"The race to 5G is on and America must win," he said during an event at the White House. "It's a race our great companies are now involved in.

"According to some estimates, the wireless industry plans to invest $275 billion in 5G networks, creating 3 million American jobs quickly, and adding $500 billion to our economy.

The new 5G system boosts data speeds to 450 megabits per second, with peak speeds of nearly 1 gigabit per second -- about 10 times faster than 4G speeds. And it's not just meant for mobile devices, companies are hoping to use the technology to boost advances in other industries, like automated vehicles, and smart street lamps and traffic signals.

To incentivize 5G development, Trump said he's rolling back barriers created by regulations. Earlier in the day, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who attended the White House event, announced there would be a 5G-spectrum auction later this year.

Trump also revealed a $20.4 billion fund to build high-speed broadband networks in rural communities.

But Trump said he's not interested in allowing the federal government to control the reigns on developing 5G networks.

"In the United States, our approach is private sector-driven and private sector-led," he said. "The government doesn't have to spend lots of money.

"As you probably heard, we had another alternative of doing it that would be through government investment and leading through the government," he added. "We don't want to do that because it won't be nearly as good, nearly as fast."