Wi-Fi and Cellular Industries Duke It Out Over 6 GHz Band

A global regulatory divide over the 6 GHz radio spectrum band is deepening, pitting Wi-Fi advocates against cellular operators as the United States, China, and Europe pursue three incompatible allocation strategies for the frequencies between 5,925 and 7,125 megahertz [1]. The United States, through the Federal Communications Commission, has assigned the full 1,200 MHz band to unlicensed wireless use, supporting technologies such as Wi-Fi 6E, 7, and 8 [1][3]. Canada, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia have adopted similar license-exempt approaches [1]. China has taken the opposite path, dedicating the entire band to licensed mobile use, making it the only large nation to reject Wi-Fi operations in the 6 GHz band [1]. Europe is pursuing a hybrid model, with the lower 500 MHz designated for Wi-Fi and a proposal to split the upper band, granting 540 MHz to licensed mobile while freezing a decision on the remaining 160 MHz until the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027 [1]. Mary Brown, executive director of the Wi-Fi advocacy group Wifi Forward, whose members include Broadcom, Comcast, Google, and Microsoft, said any country not allocating the entire band to unlicensed use is putting itself at a significant innovation disadvantage [1]. Wifi Forward published a report in 2025 estimating that restricting Wi-Fi to the lower 500 MHz of the band in the United States could cost over $1.74 trillion in lost economic value over two years [1]. Brown added that Wi-Fi already carries as much as 90 percent of internet traffic in developed economies [1]. The GSM Association, representing over 800 mobile network operators, argues that unfettered access to the upper 6 GHz band is necessary to avoid fragmentation of the global 6G ecosystem and to maintain mobile's forecasted contribution of 8.4 percent to global GDP growth by 2030 [1]. Ross Bateson, a senior spectrum advisor at the GSMA, questioned the need for additional Wi-Fi access, stating that in most cities worldwide there is between 0 percent and 5 percent Wi-Fi use in the lower 6 GHz band [1]. India has designated the lower portion of the band for unlicensed use and the 6,425 to 7,125 MHz range for licensed cellular, though the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has recommended delaying license auctions for the upper band until after WRC-27 [1]. The United Kingdom's Office of Communications is exploring a dynamic spectrum sharing framework that would give Wi-Fi access points primary access to the bottom 160 MHz of the upper band and early access to the upper 540 MHz under automated frequency coordination control [1]. Adlane Fellah, founder of wireless consultancy Maravedis, warned that real-time licensed and unlicensed sharing at scale has never been proven in a band this commercially important [1]. Fellah also noted that uneven 6 GHz policies are forcing Wi-Fi vendors to ship multiple hardware variants, raising manufacturing costs [1]. The regulatory split among the world's three largest economic blocs has raised concerns that the next era of wireless communications will result in incompatible spectrum models [1].