The upper 6GHz band: hybrid variants could serve the public good

This article discusses alternative hybrid arrangements for the upper 6GHz band. The previous article on the upper 6GHz band discussed the ‘absolutist’ positions for designating the upper 6GHz band as an exclusively licensed band for mobile broadband, and for designating it as licence-exempt so that it in effect becomes a further band for Wi-Fi. The article indicated that there was in the end no great urgency either:

• to designate the upper 6GHz band for mobile broadband, because mobile traffic growth is not strong and because mobile network operators (MNOs) do, or will have, alternative spectrum resources
• or, to earmark it as licence-exempt, in effect for Wi-Fi, because most of the shortfalls in indoor networks are to do with coverage, issues that would be best addressed by hardware solutions, and not additional spectrum.

Spectrum assignment should serve some public good, and on neither side does spectrum really solve the more pressing issues.