Trump to hold event Friday on 5G, rural broadband -White House

U.S. President Donald Trump is set to hold a White House event on Friday with the country’s top communications regulator on next-generation 5G wireless networks and efforts to boost rural broadband internet access. A White House spokesman confirmed that Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai and Trump would deliver remarks on 5G deployment. Pai is expected to announce additional funds to help rural areas that lack broadband get access to the high-speed service, officials briefed on the matter told Reuters.The FCC did not immediately comment. In August, Pai said over 700,000 rural homes and small businesses would gain first-ever high-speed internet service through the FCC’s Connect America Fund Phase II auction. In February, Trump called on U.S. telecommunications companies to boost their work to build faster 5G wireless communications networks, saying they were lagging and at risk of being left behind other countries’ efforts.