Tussle for 6 GHz Between Wi-Fi and Cellular Shows No Signs of Abating

In November 2025, the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG), a high-level advisory group that plays an instrumental role in developing the European Commission’s (EC) spectrum policies, recommended that 540 Megahertz (MHz) of spectrum (6585 – 7125 MHz) in the 6 GHz band should be assigned for licensed International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) use, instead of being opened up via an unlicensed approach. This outcome, while not unexpected, was uniformly criticized by the Wi-Fi industry, which depends on unlicensed spectrum for its transmissions. In their view, making the entirety of the 6 Gigahertz (GHz) band (which spans 5925 – 7125 MHz) unlicensed is critical for alleviating the existing congestion on the unlicensed 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands, and to provide sufficient bandwidth to underpin the next generation of high-throughput, low-latency demanding consumer and enterprise applications. On the other hand, the cellular industry argues that the additional capacity of 6 GHz is vital for the future of cellular communications, particularly for the in-development 6G standard, and thus advocates for exclusive licensing of the spectrum to protect the band for its needs.

While the RSPG’s November recommendation is a clear win for the cellular lobby, it is not absolute, as the lower portion of the 6 GHz band (5925 to 6425 MHz) has already been assigned for unlicensed use in the bloc. Judgment on the final 160 MHz (5425 – 6585 MHz) of 6 GHz spectrum has been deferred until the World Radiocommunication Conference 2027 (WRC-27). The reality is that the European debate over the 6 GHz band is not finished, because not only is the fate of the remaining 160 MHz still in limbo, but the cellular industry will not be in a position to actually utilize the 540 MHz it has been promised for many years, inviting the spectrum-deprived Wi-Fi industry to continue petitioning for it. The decision also does not change the fact that global regulation toward the 6 GHz band around the world lacks alignment, with vastly different policies between countries causing extreme variations in consumer Quality of Experiences (QoE) and resulting in a fractured Wi-Fi ecosystem. This ABI Insight examines the current state of 6 GHz access globally, contextualizing the European position and analyzing how a lack of harmonization will impact the industry. We then provide some recommendations for how policymakers and the broader Wi-Fi industry should respond to the challenge of 6 GHz.  

The United States was the first mover on the 6 GHz spectrum, with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) becoming the first regulator to pass its ruling back in April 2020. In keeping with the country’s free market legacy, policymakers adopted a laissez-faire approach to 6 GHz, opening the entire band for use by anyone who wishes to access it. Although a handful of nations, including Canada, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea, chose to emulate the United States’ approach and make the full band unlicensed, most countries have taken a different approach. At the polar opposite end of the spectrum (pun intended) is Mainland China, which has adopted a state-directed approach and chosen to make access to the entire band dependent on government-issued licenses. The United States and China are the world’s two largest Wi-Fi markets. Thus, the stark disparity between their respective 6 GHz policies has major ramifications for the Wi-Fi industry. Notably, the Wi-Fi 6E standard, introduced in 2020 and extending the Wi-Fi 6 feature set into the 6 GHz spectrum band, never gained any meaningful traction in the Mainland Chinese market because, without 6 GHz, its entire value proposition was irrelevant. Again, 6 GHz is foundational to many of Wi-Fi 7’s core abilities. So, the performance possible with the dual-band version of Wi-Fi 7, which is commonplace in Mainland China (which relies on the legacy 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands only), is vastly inferior to the tri-band variant seen in the United States (which can draw upon 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz). In response to such divergent policies, vendors must develop unique Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) tailored to the spectrum environment in each market, a requirement that hinders their ability to scale up the technology.

The European Union’s (EU) 6 GHz policy falls somewhere between the United States and Mainland China. Instead of assigning the full band either for unlicensed or for licensed, the EU has opted to divide the spectrum between the different competing interest groups. Just as the U.S. stance on 6 GHz aligns with its legacy of light-touch regulation, and Mainland China’s is a manifestation of the state's heavy hand in the country, the EU’s approach reflects the bloc’s own principles of equitable resource distribution. Ironically, this is very much in keeping with the bloc’s obscure motto of “united in diversity,” that is, everyone’s needs are accounted for, and nobody is neglected. Many other nations, ranging from Japan and Australia to South Africa and Mexico, have adopted the same logic in their approach to the 6 GHz spectrum. The problem is that this strategy pleases no one. The Wi-Fi industry believes that the rapid adoption of 6 GHz Wi-Fi equipment and infrastructure since its introduction is proof that the industry desperately needs not just the lower portion of the band, but the full 1200 MHz. This ravenous demand for 6 GHz is evidenced by the fact that annual shipments of Wi-Fi chipsets equipped with 6 GHz increased from 214.4 million in 2022 to 708.3 million in 2024 and are projected to reach over 1.9 billion by 2027, the year of WRC-27. The cellular industry, on the other hand, is convinced that 6 GHz is pivotal for the viability of 6G and will not be satisfied with anything less than the entirety of the  6 GHz band.

With both camps convinced that 6 GHz should rightfully be theirs, the fierce debate is unlikely to be resolved anytime soon. The knock-on effect of this is that for the large swaths of the globe that remain undecided, policymakers will understandably be hesitant to act until they get better clarity on the outcome of the debate. Whilst WRC-27 should offer some guidance within Europe, the extreme divergence between the United States and China means that the fracturing of the 6 GHz Wi-Fi ecosystem appears to be the new reality for the industry.

There are several concrete steps that policymakers and the broader Wi-Fi industry can take in response to the current state of 6 GHz. They include:

• Regulators Should Embrace Their Role in Driving the Industry Forward: A lack of clarity from policymakers leaves all Wi-Fi industry stakeholders, from ecosystem suppliers to adopting enterprises, in paralysis, unable to act until they receive the necessary guidance. Policymakers should, therefore, clearly signal to the industry their intentions and expedite decision-making where possible. In markets where 6 GHz Wi-Fi has already witnessed robust adoption, regulators must refrain from reversing course on 6 GHz access, as this would damage an already thriving industry, and irrevocably harm the credibility of the regulatory in the eyes of the industry and the broader public.
• Consider Spectrum Sharing: Policymakers should explore spectrum sharing methods, which allow multiple technologies to access the same spectrum simultaneously, as a means to satisfy the demands of both the Wi-Fi and cellular industries. The U.K. telecommunications regulator, Ofcom, is playing a pioneering role in investigating this potential, proposing that Wi-Fi & International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) share the upper portion of the 6 GHz band (6425 to 7125 MHz), with Wi-Fi allowed at low-power indoor levels (250 Milliwatts (MW)). The mechanism for sharing would be introduced in a phased approach.
• Ensure Maximum Utilization of Existing Spectrum: The Wi-Fi industry is gradually shifting away from an emphasis on ever faster throughputs and toward one of stability and reliability. This is reflected in the mission statement of Wi-Fi 8, which, in contrast to Wi-Fi 7’s focus on delivering an “Extremely High-Throughput,” is oriented toward achieving “Ultra-High Reliability.” In addition to the future advancements of Wi-Fi 8, industry stakeholders should also invest in methods that improve reliability through spectrum efficiency. This could include research into the compression of data transferred over Wi-Fi to reduce bandwidth demands, or the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities to manage traffic more effectively and prioritize it better.
• Explore Leveraging 7 GHz: Contiguous with the upper limit of the 6 GHz spectrum band is 125 MHz of underutilized spectrum in the 7 GHz band, specifically the 7125 – 7250 MHz spread. This could be harnessed for Wi-Fi, either as an alternative to the upper 6 GHz band in markets where it isn’t available, or as an accompaniment to 6 GHz. Demonstrating the feasibility of this overlooked slice of spectrum for Wi-Fi, in June 2025, Broadcom and Intel conducted a series of trial Wi-Fi transmissions in the 7125 – 7250 MHz range using a Broadcom-powered Access Point (AP) and an Intel-powered client.
• Reevaluate Millimeter Wave (mmWave) Wi-Fi: The original iteration of Wi-Fi operating in the 60 GHz frequencies, 802.11ad/ay, struggled to find its feet and has been written off by much of the industry. However, new life is now being injected into mmWave Wi-Fi via the 802.11bq Working Group (WG), which is exploring the expansion of existing Wi-Fi technology to the 60 GHz spectrum band. Harnessing the 60 GHz band will enable high-gigabit, low-latency wireless transfer of large amounts of data. Still, the band typically requires a Line of Sight (LoS) connection due to its poor penetration capabilities. Another advantage of Wi-Fi in the 60 GHz band is that it operates on a clean, unlicensed spectrum, which is subject to minimal interference with a very high degree of security. The Project Authorization Request (PAR) for 802.11bq was initiated in December 2024, with a projected completion date of 2029 for the standard.
• Harness Sub-1 GHz Wi-Fi: The unlicensed 900 MHz band can be harnessed by the nascent Wi-Fi HaLow (802.11ah) standard. Wi-Fi HaLow is highly energy-efficient, can connect over 8,000 client devices simultaneously, has strong penetration abilities, and can deliver robust throughputs across distances exceeding 1 kilometer. By transferring applications suitable for Wi-Fi HaLow to the sub-1 GHz spectrum (for example, Internet Protocol (IP) cameras), congestion on the 2.4/5/6 GHz bands can be alleviated, even without access to the 6 GHz band. To help realize Wi-Fi HaLow, the industry should collaborate on expanding the Wi-Fi HaLow ecosystem and increasing confidence in the technology. For infrastructure vendors, this could involve incorporating Wi-Fi HaLow into APs or conducting real-world Wi-Fi HaLow trials to demonstrate the capabilities of the technology.