• Telcos and Wi-Fi providers are lobbying European regulators over the upper 6 GHz band
• The EU’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group is consulting on the matter
• A draft opinion has been published, but a final opinion may still be months away

The discussion about whether to release the upper 6 GHz band for mobile networks, Wi-Fi service providers, or both has become an increasingly hot potato in Europe as regulatory decisions loom, spurring the respective sectors to overload on rhetoric as to why their claim for the spectrum should supersede others. 

At stake are frequencies in the 6.425 GHz–7.125 GHz band, which was identified for mobile use by countries in EMEA, the Americas and the Asia Pacific at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23).

Meanwhile, the EU’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) has been tasked by the European Commission (EC) to look into the matter and is consulting on its long-term strategic vision for the upper 6 GHz band. 

During the recent 20th European Spectrum Management Conference, the RSPG published a 56-page draft opinion, noting it has “a clear preference for a segmentation solution in the context of a prioritised band split between MFCN [mobile/fixed communications networks] and WAS/RLAN [wireless access systems including radio local area networks],” and presented “four main options for splitting the band” between the two use cases, but plans to present a single option following the ongoing industry consultation when it presents its final opinion at the RSPG plenary on 12 November 2025. 

In addition, the policy group recently published its 6G Strategic Vision report that explores potential spectrum requirements, technological advancements and policy considerations for the successful rollout of 6G. 

Claims and counter-claims

With an eye on the potential regulatory developments in Europe, the mobile industry and Wi-Fi community have stepped up their lobbying activities in recent weeks and months, relaunching their respective bids for what they each see as crucial spectrum resources for their businesses.  

In early May, for example, the CTOs of 12 influential European telcos – A1 Telekom Austria Group, BT Group, Deutsche Telekom, Elisa, KPN, Orange, Proximus, Telefónica, Telia, TIM (Telecom Italia), United Group and Vodafone Group –  wrote an open letter to the EC urging the region’s authorities to “make available the complete upper 6 GHz band for mobile for the benefit of Europe’s economy and society,” hammering home the message sent to the EC by the telcos’ CEOs in October last year. 

A week or so later, the Wi-Fi community retorted that it wants the EC to allocate the entire upper band for licence-exempt use. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) wrote to Henna Virkkunen, the EU’s EVP for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, saying that 58 companies and associations are calling on her to ensure Europe “leverages Wi-Fi technologies to benefit Europe’s businesses and consumers to the fullest”.

They say Wi-Fi is central to building a competitive, connected Europe and warn that Europe is “already behind other countries in adopting the latest Wi-Fi standards”, such as Wi-Fi 6E and 7, and the upcoming Wi-Fi 8. 

Meanwhile, the whole affair has been further exacerbated by recent geopolitical turmoil and the related focus on greater technology sovereignty in Europe.

Indeed, the mobile network operators (MNOs) say access to the upper 6 GHz band is “still sought for Wi-Fi by US stakeholders”, although without specifying who these stakeholders are. “If the decision to make the upper 6 GHz band available to European mobile operators is delayed, while US technology interests are permitted to secure further 6 GHz capacity, Europe’s competitiveness would be threatened,” they claim.

MNOs see the upper 6 GHz band as the “only feasible spectrum opportunity to launch 6G in Europe at the end of this decade”. In the longer term, they note that some of the adjoining spectrum in 7 GHz-8 GHz (which is under study for WRC-27) could be considered for 6G requirements, and that 470 MHz-698 MHz will be important for delivering 6G to wider and more sparsely populated areas.  

Waiting game

The EC has already harmonised the use of the lower 6 GHz (5.945GHz–6.425GHz) band across European Union member states, providing an additional 480 MHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi services. With regard to the upper band, it’s a case of waiting to see what the RSPG will recommend, and which way Europe will go.

Meanwhile, other non-EU markets and regions are already making decisions about how this spectrum will be used.

The Wi-Fi Alliance provides an overview of markets that have adopted, or are considering adopting, the lower and/or upper 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi services. For example, the US has opened up the full 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed systems, while China has opted to license it for 5G and 6G services. 

In a more recent development, India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) proposed draft rules to open the lower 6 GHz frequency band for unlicensed Wi-Fi services while reserving the upper band for telcos, and has been seeking comments from the industry. As in Europe, this is expected to lead to clashes between telcos and tech companies, especially as the country’s largest telco, Reliance Jio, has broken ranks with its peers by not calling for all the spectrum to be used for cellular services, The Economic Times recently reported. 

In the UK, Ofcom has published proposals for the upper 6 GHz spectrum to be made available and shared between mobile and Wi-Fi services, and had invited feedback by 8 May 2025.

- Anne Morris, Contributing Editor, TelecomTV