On the 1st of April, the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) of United States announced that the 6 GHz band is proposed to be licenced for Wi-Fi operation (WiFi 6E).
In January, Wi-Fi Alliance introduced a new terminology, Wi-Fi 6E to distinguish forthcoming Wi-Fi 6 devices that are capable of 6 GHz operation in anticipation of the release of the new band. The new standard brings a common industry name for Wi-Fi users to identify devices that will offer the features and capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 – including higher performance, lower latency, and faster data rates – extended into the 6 GHz band.
The draft rules permitting unlicensed devices to operate in the 6 GHz band has received strong support from industry players. This includes major players in the Wi-Fi market such as the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), Cisco and Boingo.
Commenting on the news by FCC, Tiago Rodrigues, CEO of Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) said, "The proposed opening of the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi 6 technology will be a game changer for global Wi-Fi. This new band would provide more capacity than all the other Wi-Fi bands put together. If approved, it would prove critical for overcrowding on many Wi-Fi networks, especially in light of the volumes of bandwidth hungry corporate traffic recently pushed onto home networks due to COVID-19. This is one of the reasons we have been working closely with members on initial trials of Wi-Fi 6E. The proposed release of the 6 GHz band would mean that we can generate multi-gigabit speeds and low-latency connections to deliver advanced mobile services to consumers, business and industry. Wi-Fi 6E is already proven in trials to achieve speeds to rival those of advanced 5G mobile networks."
According to Mary Brown, Senior Director, Government Affairs of Cisco, "Everyone is relying on Wi-Fi more than ever, especially now that many of us are working from home or participating in distance learning. More importantly, access to additional unlicensed spectrum will finally unleash the full potential of Wi-Fi 6 technology, which today is limited to smaller blocks of spectrum in the 5 GHz band."
Dr. Derek Peterson, Chief Technology Officer, Boingo said that, “The expansion of Wi-Fi into the 6 GHz band provides exciting new real estate that lays the foundation for continued wireless innovation. The significant swath of contiguous spectrum is well suited to facilitate Wi-Fi’s skyrocketing growth, and will enable Boingo to maximize the benefits of neutral host Wi-Fi 6 deployments at major airports, stadiums, military bases and multifamily communities.”
