Devices dependent on Wi-Fi will get a boost if the FCC moves forward with a plan to enable additional devices to operate in the 6 GHz band, which ranges from 5.925 GHz to 7.125 GHz.
Impact: With Wi-Fi now considered a vital part of daily life, the news that the FCC plans to hold a vote at its Jan. 29 open meeting to start the process of enabling additional devices to access Wi-Fi using the 6 GHz band received a positive response. The changes would allow unlicensed devices to operate at a higher power level, making it possible for more connected devices and wearables to draw higher power levels from the band. Devices that fall under the “new category of unlicensed Geofenced Variable Power devices” include AR and VR, some hotspots, smart automation, and indoor navigation, but outside Wi-Fi operations would also reportedly get a boost if the FCC proposal moves forward. Should that happen, the new class of devices would operate in two different parts of the band, from 5.925 GHz-6.42 GHz and from 6.525 GHz to 6.87 GHz. But Ars Technica recently pointed out that the new devices will need to work with geofencing systems to prevent interference that would negatively impact both “fixed microwave links and radio astronomy observatories.” FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said opening the band to additional devices at a higher power level will benefit consumers by providing them with better and faster Wi-Fi to support the next generation of devices.
Consumer advocates who generally oppose Carr’s deregulatory efforts were pleased with the move. Ars reported that Michael Calabrese, the head of the Open Technology Institute at New America, described the higher power levels for new devices as a “big win for consumers.” Public Knowledge also praised the decision and supports the use of more unlicensed spectrum to improve Wi-Fi connectivity and benefit consumers. Devices currently operating in the 6 GHz band are classified as either low power indoor devices or very low power devices and operate, as one would expect, at low power ranges controlled by automated frequency coordination systems to prevent interference with licensed operations, per the FCC. Should the changes be approved, the new GVP devices would operate at higher power levels but not be allowed in exclusion zones where specific frequencies are used. The proposed order also suggests that a future evaluation will look at low-power indoor device use, seemingly to enable higher power standards for those devices.
The fact that the FCC plans to move forward with Wi-Fi use in the 6 GHz band would seem to indicate that the administration doesn’t plan to reallocate that spectrum for 5G use as part of its requirement that federal officials find 800 MHz of spectrum (including at least 100 MHz in the upper C-band) to auction off between 1.3 GHz and 10.5 GHz. The 6 GHz band had been considered vulnerable to 5G reallocation but with Wi-Fi seemingly growing in importance and the FCC opening the spectrum to more device options, moving Wi-Fi operations out of the band seems unlikely despite the wireless industry’s push for more licensed 5G spectrum.
