Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) has designated all 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz (5.925-7.125 GHz) band for unlicensed use, said Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA) in welcoming the move.
Saudi Arabia is the first country in the Middle East, Europe, or Africa that now has more than 2 GHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi operations – the most mid-band spectrum designated by any country globally.
The Kingdom made this decision after a comprehensive consultation, significant engagement with various global stakeholders, and trials with Wi-Fi 6E equipment furnished by WBA members Broadcom and Intel. The trials demonstrated that the Kingdom could advance its digital ambitions, achieving 2 Gigabits per second speed in laptop computers, while enabling continued operations with existing users of the 6 GHz band, said WBA
The Kingdom will also be well positioned to lead in Wi-Fi 7 deployments when it becomes available, said WBA. With this broad-based designation, Wi-Fi 7 deployments using 320 MHz wide channels will get up to 5 gigabits per second in mobile devices at very low latencies. This sets the stage for the Kingdom to further reap the benefits of contextual Internet, integrated communications services, and immersive AR/VR for telemedicine, education and worker training.
With Saudi Arabia joining the ranks of the US, South Korea, Brazil, and others, in designating all 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band for license-exempt use, the WBA hopes that other regulators in the region will take note and make a similar commitment to advancing their own wireless broadband capabilities. This will lead to Global harmonization, which is key to scale, accelerating technology development, and reducing costs for end-users.
Tiago Rodrigues, WBA CEO
The release of the full 1200 MHz provides enhanced flexibility for both indoor and outdoor deployments and lays the foundation for the Kingdom’s citizens and businesses to set a path for the adoption of Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 when that technology debuts.
Vijay Nagarajan, Vice President of Marketing, Wireless Communications and Connectivity Division, Broadcom
Broadcom commends CITC for its visionary designation of 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz spectrum for Wi-Fi. This truly brings the best out of Wi-Fi 6E for gigabit broadband. Equally important are the exemplary rules crafted for portable Wi-Fi devices to disrupt fields like telemedicine and education.
