Getting ahead of China in the ‘5G race’, building a US-first mobile ecosystem, and excluding Chinese vendors from US telecoms networks – these are key goals of US policy, and have scarcely been modified under the Biden administration, even if the rhetoric is less overblown than in his predecessor’s tenure. They are now becoming intertwined with Biden’s flagship Covid recovery plans, particularly massive schemes to boost spending on infrastructure, including telecoms. The $1 trillion infrastructure bill, if it passes Congress, would allocate $65bn to improve broadband coverage and quality and reach every community. The aim is to improve the return on investment (ROI) case for broadband providers to extend their wireline or 5G networks to underserved areas, while also making services…