With wireless spectrum being limited, a row has begun in the EU over the upper frequenices in the 6 GHz band (6425 to 7125 MHz) between the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) on one side and the mobile operators on the other side. The Wi-Fi Alliance and the DSA has penned an open letter to the EU digital ministers to try and sway their minds, after the German government has changed its position on the question in favour of the mobile operators ahead of a vote by the EU’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG). Currently, the 6 GHz Wi-Fi spectrum in the EU is limited to use the channels between 5945 MHz and 6425 MHz—this falls within the U-NII-5 band based on the FCC classification—which is a total of 12 usable 40 MHz channel groups. However, this only equates to three 160 MHz or two overlapping 320 MHz channel groups, which means that it’s very crowded for anyone with a high-end router that wants to use it at its full potential. With Wi-Fi 6E/7 devices relying heavily on 160 and 320 MHz channel groups to deliver the claimed speed advantages they offer over older Wi-Fi standards, this far from ideal, even though the FCC U-NII bands still limits things, consumers have access to seven 160 MHz and three 320 MHz channel groups, of which none are overlapping, although technically there are six overlapping 320 MHz channel groups in the US and Canada.
On top of everything else, the EU has strict transmit power limitations and consumer 6 GHz Wi-Fi routers can only be used indoors based on current regulations, which limits the range these devices can transmit the signal to such a degree that it’s unlike you would be able to use the 6 GHz band more than a room or two away from your router. It’s hard to see that consumer Wi-Fi routers with such limited transmit power can interfere in any way with cellular infrastructure that transmits at much higher power. The Wi-Fi Alliance and the DSA are arguing that if the EU votes in favour of the mobile operators, there might not be enough available Wi-Fi channels in the 6 GHz in the EU, which might be true for businesses and other types of venues, but due to the short range of consumer 6 GHz devices in the EU, it’s unlikely to affect most consumers to a huge degree. On the other hand, for exact the same reason, it doesn’t make sense to make the upper 6 GHz band exclusive to the mobile operators, as they have already been assigned spectrum in a wide range of different frequency ranges that offers better speeds and range. Hopefully the rest of the EU won’t agree with Germany on this issue, as the EU is already very limiting when it comes to available Wi-Fi spectrum and doesn’t need further limits imposed on what is already a heavily crippled standard compared to many other parts of the world. The RSPG will vote on the matter on November 12.
