The US cellular industry needs to get over 6GHz, cease trying to relitigate the band and instead try to promote broader aspects of US wireless leadership. It should help form consensus for US positions on future spectrum allocations ahead of next year’s World Radio Congress, WRC-27, rather than trying to fight the last battle again and again.
The entire 1200MHz between 5.925-7.125GHz is already allocated for unlicensed uses such as Wi-Fi 7, which is showing rapid growth in usage and value, according to recent figures from analysts such as IDC and Dell’Oro, and data providers such as Ookla.
Advances in robotics, AI and automation, augmented reality, entertainment and many other areas of enterprise and consumer technology all rely on Wi-Fi networks’ performance and reliability, which is being further enhanced in emerging Wi-Fi 8 development and a long future roadmap.
Despite spurious reports and comments attempting to portray the FCC’s original decision as somehow provisional, unlicensed use was not an interim holding position, just waiting for operators and their industry groups to find a better lobbying approach such as 6G. It was a well-considered and audacious move to improve the utility of Wi-Fi, a technology in which US vendors have leading global positions. Telco challenges were rejected by the courts. Subsequently, numerous other countries have taken similar paths to the US.
Indeed, various US government agencies repeatedly indicate their continued support for unlicensed wireless domestically and are also pursuing strong international evangelism for 6GHz Wi-Fi. This is partly a counter to Chinese 5G/6G cellular visions and the promotion of its major vendors.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has explicitly praised the 2020 decision, saying that “the FCC went big and opened up 1,200 megahertz in the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. Consumers across America now benefit from a better Wi‑Fi experience.” Awkwardly for CTIA, its current president and CEO, Ajit Pai, was himself the former FCC chair who proposed and delivered that decision.
The industry has moved at a rapid pace to develop and deploy low-power indoor (LPI) gateways and user devices since the 2020 decision. In parallel, the FCC has continued to evolve the unlicensed 6GHz band since its inception by adding new power classes and improving their usability:
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The first commercial availability of Standard Power products and the Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) systems occurred in early 2024.
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In March 2025, it expanded the availability of the Very Low Power (VLP) class to the whole 1200MHz range.
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In January 2026, it adopted a new option called Geofenced Variable Power (GVP) across much of the 6GHz band.
As Carr also noted, “we keep the 6 GHz band moving forward as a platform for America’s wireless leadership and technological dynamism. Our consumers, our economy, and our innovators will be better off for it.”
6GHz has allowed Wi-Fi to expand overall capacity and reliability at the same time. It adds more wide, high-throughput channels, enables “non-overlapping” grids of access points in large buildings, avoids interference from older devices and non-cooperative technologies and lets engineers build more reliable (“deterministic”) networks for business-critical industrial systems and demanding in-home use.
NTIA has also repeatedly endorsed the 6GHz unlicensed band. For example, at the October 2025 Spectrum Americas event, NTIA Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth explicitly said that despite its spectrum auction elements, OBBBA does not alter US policy on 6GHz. She added that American companies lead the world in unlicensed wireless, and that the US would act to defend the band for global Wi-Fi, including at WRC-27.
“We’re building a growing coalition of nations that share our vision for Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz band. While 6 GHz is not on the agenda for WRC-27, we will be vigilant in defending the band’s critical role in powering global Wi-Fi connectivity,” said Roth.
Now, building that coalition appears to involve trade agreements and the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) as well.
The new US–Bangladesh reciprocal trade agreement includes a specific clause about the upper 6GHz band. As part of that deal, Bangladesh has committed to open 6.425–7.125GHz to license-exempt technologies such as Wi-Fi for low-power indoor and very-low-power devices, and to promptly begin certifying devices that can use it.
Given that the spectrum band has become a foreign-policy issue, with China pursuing the opposite outcome and pushing its own 6GHz agenda through various diplomatic channels, it seems even less likely that the US will backtrack domestically.
The United States needs a common external voice, especially since WRC-27 will be held in Shanghai, with the hosts holding a “home advantage” in negotiations. It would look incoherent for the FCC, NTIA and trade negotiators to defend America’s spectrum preferences while parts of the US mobile industry continue to present the American 6GHz outcome as some sort of strategic mistake.
Reversing or diluting the 6GHz band’s status now would strand equipment, disrupt users and undermine confidence in American spectrum policy, possibly harming valuations by adding an uncertainty risk premium for investors. More importantly, there is no serious sign that the current FCC wants or needs to do so. There is also a backfire risk for the cellular carriers, whose customers rely on Wi-Fi – including 6GHz frequencies – as well as their mobile connections.
The US has multiple areas to advance its technological leadership in wireless technology. It has commanding positions not just in Wi-Fi, but also in cellular technologies such as AI-RAN and Private 5G, as well as satellite communications and advanced spectrum management and sharing.
The US wireless industry should keep evangelizing all of this worldwide, not waste time and resources relitigating a settled spectrum debate that won’t change, especially since it is now embedded in trade policy and clearly stated telecoms goals.
