Wi-Fi Alliance® delivers more value from Wi-Fi® in 6 GHz

Industry coalesces on secure and interoperable Wi-Fi 6E

Today, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) made a historic decision to make 1200 megahertz of unlicensed spectrum in 6 GHz available for Wi-Fi® – a monumental ruling securing Wi-Fi innovation for decades to come. The FCC is the first regulatory body to take the courageous step of making 6 GHz available for unlicensed use, bringing an indispensable spectrum resource to increase Wi-Fi’s economic contributions. 6 GHz will pave the way for faster, higher-capacity, and lower latency Wi-Fi devices and networks.

Wi-Fi Alliance® is extending Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6™ into 6 GHz to ensure Wi-Fi users can quickly benefit from additional capacity, wider channels, and less congested spectrum. Certification for Wi-Fi 6E – the brand name for Wi-Fi 6 devices operating in 6 GHz – will be available in early 2021. Wi-Fi Alliance has been working to prepare interoperability certification as soon as Wi-Fi 6E devices enter the market so 6 GHz benefits can reach consumers, device manufacturers, and service providers more quickly. The Wi-Fi industry has coalesced around certification in an unprecedented way to rapidly deliver the program to market and enable worldwide interoperability of Wi-Fi 6E devices as additional countries make 6 GHz spectrum available.

“By making 6 GHz available for unlicensed use, the FCC has secured the future of Wi-Fi. 6 GHz access is a seminal development for connectivity and provides Wi-Fi more capacity to deliver groundbreaking use cases and to unlock novel new Wi-Fi applications,” said Edgar Figueroa, president and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance. “Today’s global climate highlights how important Wi-Fi is in connectivity and productivity, and new Wi-Fi 6E solutions will further increase Wi-Fi’s standing.”

Wi-Fi Alliance members are demonstrating their readiness to move quickly into the band before the end of the year, with initial forecasts expecting more than 316 million Wi-Fi 6E devices will enter the market in 2021. Wi-Fi 6E will improve Wi-Fi experiences everywhere – indoors and outdoors, at home, on-the-go, in densely populated areas, and large public venues. Wi-Fi 6E will soon provide higher resolution streaming for applications such as video conferencing, lower latency for gaming and industrial IoT, and faster download speeds to provide critical services to enterprise, education, and healthcare markets. Users will also see a new generation of mobile devices, including those that deliver bi-directional video and AR/VR applications.

“We expect initial Wi-Fi 6E products to enter the market this year, with the first Wi-Fi 6E access points available by the fourth quarter of 2020,” said Phil Solis, research director at IDC. “We expect Wi-Fi 6E will gain momentum and see rapid 2021 adoption with more chipsets targeting flagship smartphones, PCs, TVs, and even VR devices.”

Wi-Fi 6E extends the exciting capabilities of Wi-Fi 6 into 6 GHz, and the additional spectrum addresses Wi-Fi’s spectrum shortage by bringing nearly six times the total capacity in both 2.4 and 5 GHz, seven contiguous 160 MHz channels, and less interference from legacy Wi-Fi devices. This translates to multigigabit Wi-Fi speeds and more devices performing optimally on a Wi-Fi network at once. 6 GHz brings more benefits from the latest generation of Wi-Fi, paving the way for faster, higher-performance, and lower latency Wi-Fi devices and networks.

Wi-Fi Alliance is grateful to the FCC for its commitment to Wi-Fi and is excited about the endless possibilities for unlicensed connectivity in 6 GHz.

Source: Wi-Fi Alliance media announcement