There is a battle going on for the 6GHz band globally. On the one hand, Wi-Fi providers pushing for allocation of the entire range; on the other hand, the mobile industry advocating for splitting the band to include 6G. At least in Brazil, it seems the latter has gained an edge.
According to Vinicius Caram, a superintendent at Brazilian regulator Anatel, the agency has chosen to move forward with studies to split the 6GHz band between both technologies, following the latest WRC-23 decisions.
Although Caram confirmed that several public discussions with players will still take place before a final decision is reached, there is a clear path ahead.
“Brazil must have 6G, and this range [6GHz] is being considered internationally,” he said during a panel session at Futurecom.
“It’s easier to find higher frequencies for Wi-Fi compared to mobile communications. Since Europe and Asia are on the same page regarding splitting the band [that’s the natural direction for Brazil].”
Not everyone agrees, though. “If we don’t allocate the entire band of spectrum for Wi-Fi, low-latency services such as VR would be compromised,” argued Eduardo Neger, Director at the Brazilian Association of Internet (Abranet).
Because the new generations of Wi-Fi demand three 320 MHz channels, he explained that a potential spectrum split would decrease the available channels, making it impossible to reuse the network.
Neger also said that research already points to other bands being suitable for 6G, such as the range between 7 to 15 GHz.
However, these arguments are not enough to convince the regulator. “Everyone in the industry evolved to Wi-Fi 6, but nobody moved to Wi-Fi 6e [in Brazil], and we’re already talking about Wi-Fi 7,” Caram replied. “Anatel considers that Wi-Fi can be very well served by one 320 MHz channel,” he added.
