AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint executives to meet with Trump on 5G: report

Top executives at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US, Sprint and other firms will be meeting with President Donald Trump to discuss 5G and other technologies on Thursday, according to Reuters.

AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson, Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure and CenturyLink CEO Glen Post will be among the executives discussing topics such as next-gen wireless and universal broadband. T-Mobile told CNET that "senior" executives would be at the White House summit, but didn't provide specifics.

According to Recode, a separate meeting will be held with the leaders of at least four drone companies: Kespry, AirMap, Airspace and PrecisionHawk.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, Deputy Chief Technology Officer Michael Kratsios, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, White House National Economic Director Gary Cohn and FAA and NASA officials also are expected to attend small group meetings before the larger group meets with Trump at about 11 a.m. EDT Thursday.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer in a press briefing Tuesday said Trump will see “demonstrations of how these technologies will contribute to the 21st century economy and how the government can ensure that their safe adoption leads to the best possible outcomes for the American worker and American businesses.”

RELATED: Ericsson sought authority to conduct 5G demo with Sprint for President Trump at White House

FCC filings showed that Ericsson and Sprint were prepared to conduct a 5G demo at the White House as well, but that plan was apparently scrapped. The companies declined to comment, but an application for Special Temporary Authority (STA), filed June 13, was promptly denied/dismissed (PDF) by the FCC on June 14. Little explanation was provided, with the FCC saying only that “the Commission is unable to grant your application for the facilities requested. Withdrawn by applicant. Event was cancelled.”

Earlier in the week, Trump met with the leaders of several tech companies, including Apple, Alphabet, Qualcomm, Amazon, Microsoft and Intel. The meeting was hosted by the new White House Office of American Innovation, which is headed by Trump's adviser and son-in-law Jared Kushner, and the American Technology Council.

Trump in May established the American Technology Council to coordinate a strategy for the federal government's use of information technology and the delivery of services through information technology.