5G：一场风险相伴的革命 [美国媒体]

5G: a revolution not without risks

5G：一场风险相伴的革命



PARIS-The recent diplomatic dust-up over Chinese telecoms company Huawei, one of the leaders in developing equipment for fifth-generation mobile networks, has demonstrated that this technology which promises to enable an internet of things and self-driving vehicles also poses risks.

巴黎——最近围绕中国通讯公司华为集团（第五代移动网络设备开发领导者之一）发生的外交风波表明这项有望实现物联网和汽车自动驾驶的技术也会带来风险。

What is 5G, what will it be able to do, and what are the risks?

什么是5G？它能够做什么？而带来的风险又是什么呢？

5G stands for the fifth generation of mobile network technology, which should begin to be rolled out in 2020 in Asia and the United States.

5G为第五代移动网络技术，预计将于2020年在亚洲和美国推出。

Each generation has offered improvements in datatransmission speed and capacity, and with 5G the networks are really set to make the transition from telephony to other objects.

每一代技术在数据传输速度和容量上都有提升，有了5G技术，网络就可实现从电话向其他设备的转变

What will it be able to do?

它能做什么？

The much vaunted internet of things has so far been hobbled by the limitations of mobile networks, both in terms of transmission speeds of handsets and the fact the backbone of networks hadn't been expanded sufficiently in many cases to handle huge volumes of data.

迄今为止，无论是在手机传输速度上，还是在很多情况下，网络主干没有得到充分扩展，无法处理海量数据，备受追捧的物联网一直受到移动网络的限制。

With 5G, transmission speeds should accelerate sufficiently to allow for self-driving cars to take to the roads or for doctors to conduct operations remotely.

有了5G技术，传输速度应该会加快到足以让自动驾驶汽车上路或让医生远程指导手术。

It will also cut the cord on augmented and virtual reality.

它还将切断增强现实和虚拟现实的联系。

The ability to connect more sensors will help make many services "intelligent", such as helping manage traffic flow and telling the sanitation department when garbage bins need to be emptied.

5G能够连接更多的传感器，让许多服务变得“智能”，如帮助管理交通流，通知卫生部门何时清空垃圾桶。

Industry is in particular looking forward to 5G to reinvent manufacturing and allow it to monitor all sorts of processes.

业界尤其期待5G能够改造制造业使其能够监控全部流程。

Why does 5G pose security risks?

为什么5G会带来安全风险？

The first reason is that more data and more types of data will be travelling across 5G networks. Much of the data transmitted by sensors could be sensitive, such as information about manufacturing processes that business rivals would be interested in acquiring. Or the data from our homes that could be gleaned to determine all sorts of things about us. The treasure chest of data for hackers is getting much, much bigger.

第一，更多的数据和更多形式的数据将通过5G网络进行传输。由传感器传输的大分布数据可能很敏感，如商业对手可能感兴趣想要获取的制造流程信息。或者从我们家中收集的数据用以确定与我们相关的所有事情。黑客的数据库正变得越来越庞大。

A second reason is that an increased reliance on the mobile network means its disruption would have even more serious consequences, both in terms of safety and economic activity. A failure during a remotely guided operation could lead to the death of a patient or a crash of a self-driving car. A longer outage could disrupt an economy. This poses national security risks.

第二，在安全和经济活动方面，对移动网络日益增强的依赖意味着网络的中断将带来严重的后果。远程控制的失败会让病人丧命或自动驾驶汽车撞车。更长时间的网络中断可能会扰乱经济，对国家安全造成威胁。

While the diplomatic spat over the arrest of Huawei's chief financial officer was based on accusations the firm violated US sanctions on Iran, the United States has longstanding concerns about Chinese telecommunications equipment being a Trojan horse for Beijing's intelligence and military.

尽管围绕华为首席金融官的外交争端是基于华为违反美国对伊朗制裁的指控，但是长期以来美国一直担心中国电信设备是中国情报部门和军方的特洛伊木马。

Huawei is a major manufacturer of equipment used to build 5G networks, and the US defence establishment fears it could enable it to disrupt American military communications or otherwise wage asymmetrical warfare in a confrontation.

华为是5G网络设备的主要制造商，美国防务机构担心华为将在中美对抗中扰乱美国军事通讯或以其他方式发动不对称战争。

The United States has essentially barred use of Huawei equipment in domestic networks, as have Australia and New Zealand, with other countries considering following suit.

美国已经基本上禁止在国内网络中使用华为设备，澳大利亚和新西兰也已如此，其他国家正在考虑效仿。

Deliverance or disappointment?

拯救或失望？

The promises are always hyped, but the delivery is often a disappointment. Early buyers of 4G smartphones were often let down: their handsets could handle nippy speeds but the backbone of networks were often not yet bulked up to handle the higher data flow.

承诺往往令人兴奋，但结果通常令人失望。4G智能手机的早期购买者们往往会失望：他们的手机处理速度极快，但网络主干通常没有得到扩展，无法处理更高的数据流。

Operators have now built up the capacity of their backbone networks, but if 5G is to keep its promise the number of base stations needed is enormous. Otherwise, users will be forced back onto slower networks.

运营商们已经扩展了自家的骨干网络容量，但是要兑现5G的承诺，所需的基站数量是巨大的。否则，用户们将会被迫退回使用更慢的网络。

Meanwhile operators are having to invest billions to roll out 5G, which is an issue because competition in many countries has hemmed in prices companies can charge consumers.

与此同时，运营商不得不投入数十亿资金研究5G技术，这是一个问题，因为国家内的竞争将限制公司向消费者收取的费用。

While most analysts believe operators will in the end be able to finance building the new networks, they may not initially be dense enough to handle some of the most anticipated applications.

尽管大多数分析师认为，运营商最终会为建立新网络提供资金，但他们最初可能因网络不够密集无法处理一些最受期待的应用。


Building a dense network of base stations along highways to handle self-driving vehicles will be a costly endeavor, for example, and operators may find themselves seeking partners from users of new services.

例如，在高速公路沿线建立一个密集的基站网络以指挥自动驾驶汽车将会是一个昂贵的工作，运营商可能会发现自己正在新服务使用者中寻求伙伴。

Whatsnext
What about the health risks?
​
那么健康风险呢？