For Ganley, the current model of how airwaves are allocated to mobile carriers is broken. At the moment, telecoms firms in the U.S. will bid for so-called spectrum through an auction process held by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In other countries, the appropriate regulator will control spectrum auctions. This often leads to dominance from the larger players who have more money to spend. 
 
 The CEO said that this has killed innovation, particularly among European firms that led the previous generations of mobile technology. 
 
 "Because of the way spectrum was allocated, we adopted the top-down model in a way we haven't done since feudalism. We recreated a top-down structure now that has become an absolutely critical part of our economy," Ganley said. 
 
 He added that this model suits the Chinese because of the top-down nature of the world's second-largest economy. In the auction model, U.S. firms are competing heavily against each other to win customers. This hits their profits and therefore their ability to invest in innovation. In China, however, where there are only two or three major state-run networks dominating the market, this model is very fitting. They can continue to operate and invest because of backing by the Chinese government. This could allow them to get ahead of the U.S. telecoms companies which may struggle to compete when it comes to rolling out 5G. 
 
 Ganley said that while many European and U.S. telecoms companies could die, China could prop their domestic players up for several years. That's why he, and his company Rivada Networks, advocate a wholesale model for allocating spectrum, similar to how the electricity market works. 
 
 The model would theoretically allow more players to bid for spectrum as and when it is needed to meet demand and this would lead to more dynamic pricing. 
 
 "What we need to do is completely flip the table," Ganley said, adding that this would allow the U.S. to get ahead of China in 5G. 
 
 Interestingly, the Trump administration has hinted toward such a policy. Kelsey Guyselman, policy advisor at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said at a recent event that the government recognizes that "sharing" spectrum could be a way to roll-out the next generation of mobile network, hinting toward a wholesale model. 
 
 And it's clear that the upper echelons of the Trump administration are thinking about a wholesale market model for 5G. Brad Parscale, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, tweeted last month that he thinks this is the way forward. 
 
 Ganley said that the race for 5G is moving quickly and the U.S. needs to introduce a wholesale model or risk losing to the Chinese. 
 
 "We are 13 months away from really failing," Ganley told CNBC. 
 
 Not all experts are convinced however that a wholesale spectrum model could live up to the hype. 
 
 "I think while it’s a good idea the jury is still out on whether it will achieve the goals that have been articulated and some of that is routed in the idea that many of the major players involved in 5G are still seeking out those really lucrative 5G business cases," Shaun Collins, CEO of technology, media and telecoms analyst firm CCS Insight, told CNBC by phone earlier this week. ||||| LISTEN TO ARTICLE 1:29 SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 A ship laden with U.S. soybeans that was steaming toward northern China looks to have lost its race to arrive before import duties are imposed. 
 
 Retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods have now taken effect after the U.S. implemented a raft of duties earlier in the day, China’s foreign ministry said at a press conference in Beijing on Friday afternoon. The Chinese government had previously said it will impose a 25 percent levy on shipments on soybeans among other U.S. agricultural produce and goods including automobiles. 
 
 The bulk carrier Peak Pegasus, which had been accelerating earlier in the day as it raced to the port of Dalian, was about 25 miles away from its destination as of 4:25 p.m. local time and slowing down, according to ship-tracking data. It’s scheduled to arrive at about 5 p.m., the data show. 
 
 Peak Pegasus is still heading toward Dalian as China announces its tariffs are now in effect. 
 
 Click to track the path of the Pegasus. 
 
 The U.S. fired the first shot in the deepening trade war, imposing tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports from 12:01 a.m. Friday in Washington, just after midday in China. Soybeans have been a key battleground in escalating trade tensions between the two countries as China is the world’s biggest importer and America’s largest customer in trade worth $14 billion last year. 
 
 The Asian country is expected to cancel or re-sell U.S. soybeans due to the additional duties and purchased 19 cargoes from Brazil last week. China typically imports from Brazil at this time of year before switching to the U.S., spurring concerns about a deficit in the fourth quarter. 
 
 — With assistance by Shuping Niu ||||| Soybean prices in the U.S. and Brazil, the nations that account for roughly 80% of global exports, have taken drastically different paths thanks to Donald Trump’s trade war. 
 
 In the U.S., average cash prices fell to about $7.87 a bushel this week, the lowest in almost a decade, according to an index compiled by the Minneapolis Grain Exchange. That comes as China gears up to enact retaliatory tariffs against American farm goods in response to President Trump’s pledge to slap fees on some products from the Asian country. 
 
 Meanwhile in Brazil, exporters have been handed high times. Soybeans to be loaded in August at the nation’s Paranagua port fetched $2.21 a bushel more than Chicago futures on Thursday, the widest gap since data starts in 2014. The premium has more than tripled since the end of May, according to data from Commodity 3. 
 
 “Premiums reflect the rising possibility of China being more dependent on Brazil’s soybeans,” Luis Fernando Roque, an analyst at consultancy firm Safras & Mercado, said in a telephone interview from Porto Alegre. 
 
 The rally means the added premium for Brazil supplies are equal to about two-thirds the cost of the tariffs China is planning to levy on U.S. shipments, according to a report from INTL FCStone (intl). 
 
 So far, good crushing margins are helping to keep Chinese demand robust for Brazilian supplies, even with surging premiums. China bought about 1.1 million metric tons of soybeans from Brazil last week, while no purchases from the U.S. were reported, according to the China National Grain and Oils Information Center. 
 
 That’s an unusual move for this time of the year, when China usually starts booking U.S. supply in the months before the North American harvest starts. Supplies in Brazil begin to fall after shipments peak for the season in May.
– Trade disputes generally don't lend themselves to exciting visuals, but the new one between the US and China might be an exception. As the deadline neared for new penalties to take effect, a ship laden with US soybeans raced toward the Chinese port of Dalian, capturing the attention of users on the Chinese social media site Weibo, reports Reuters. "You are no ordinary soybean!" one user wrote in regard to the ship Peak Pegasus, which set out from Seattle last month. "Good luck bro!" wrote another. However, Reuters reports that the Pegasus arrived just a smidge late to beat the deadline, and Bloomberg also reports that the ship "looks to have lost its race"—unless perhaps Chinese officials were feeling generous. Related coverage: Soybeans? They just happen to be the top American agricultural export to China, as an interactive graphic at Reuters reveals. China took in about $12 billion worth last year. US farmers' pain will be Brazilian farmers' gain, reports Fortune. One huge factor: CNBC reports that a major issue behind this trade war is 5G—and whether the US or China will be the nation to dominate the next generation of the mobile internet. This is about far more than faster download times, however. "It is being touted as a technology that could support the next generation of infrastructure, from the billions of internet-connected devices expected to come online in the next few years, to smart cities and driverless cars."