Two of China’s three largest wireless carriers are reportedly discussing a merger. China Unicom (Hong Kong) Ltd. (NYSE: CHU) and China Telecommunications Corp. Ltd. (NYSE: CHA) are both state-controlled wireless carriers and the second- and third-largest wireless carriers in the country with a combined total of more than 590 million subscribers. China Mobile Ltd. (NYSE: CHL), the country’s largest wireless carrier with more than 900 million subscribers, is also a state-controlled enterprise.

According to a report from Bloomberg News, the government is considering a merger of China Unicom and China Telecom to speed up development and deployment of a 5G network. The current argument for a merger between the two is based on the ability of a combined company to more easily make the huge investments required to build out a 5G network.

When President Trump killed the acquisition of Qualcomm by Broadcom, he cited national security concerns related to 5G development as the primary reason for his action. Because new advances in technology typically pay huge dividends to the first mover, China apparently hopes to seize an advantage in shaping and controlling the development of 5G.