Axios recently published a National Security Council memo considering the possibility of a national 5G network. Since that report was published Sunday, the Trump administration responded saying it has no current plans to nationalize a 5G network, according to Recode. Axios Chief Technology Correspondent Ina Fried, and The Verge Reporter Chaim Gartenberg explain what a 5G network would look like.
Fried says this would be massive, and unprecedented. "Building a 5G network takes years, it takes lots of planning," said Fried. "The whole industry is moving towards 5G very slowly and methodically. So the idea of anyone just coming in and doing it, let alone the government would be a massively bid deal."
This could greatly impact business competition among telecommunication companies explains Gartenberg. "It would mean dramatically decreased competition in terms of cell phone bills," said Gartenberg. "We never really had anything like this."
On Monday FCC Chairman Ajit Pai tweeted in opposition of this deal. Axios reports all five FCC commissioners are united against 5G nationalization.
The largest car search platform in India, Cardekho, recently raised $250 million in what the company calls a pre-IPO round led by leapfrog investments. The funding bumps CarDekho above unicorn status with a $1.2 billion valuation. The company currently has a catalogue of more than 3,000 pre-owned cars for online purchases and hopes to expand with the new funding. Partner and co-head of South Asian investment for LeapFrog Stewart Langdon joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
E-scooter company Bird made its public debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. CFO Yibo Ling joined Cheddar to discuss what made the company launch a SPAC IPO now. Ling noted one of the deciding factors was the need to scale the business to help take "gas-guzzling cars off the road" by growing into more locations. "A large portion of our proceeds will go to fund expansion into these new geographies," he said.
Thuc Vu, CEO and co-founder of Ohmnilabs, joins 'Cheddar Innovates' to discuss how robots are playing a role in the return to the office, and what's in store for the future of the robotics industry.
Joan E. Solsman, a senior reporter at CNET, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about Netflix moving to offer mobile video games for Android users as part of their subscription. She said this is likely one "baby step" for the streaming giant as it moves into the space. "You can see what Netflix wants to do eventually down the line is have these great ambitions to make their service be more than just passive TV, movies," she said. "They're moving more into merchandising, that they're moving more into in-person experiences. They're trying to broaden a way, which is a great thing to do when everyone keeps talking about metaverses."
