Five years ago this month, the U.S. Federal Communication Commission allocated the 6 GHz spectrum for unlicensed Wi-Fi use.
An explosion of innovation followed.
That FCC action nearly tripled the available, unlicensed bandwidth for Wi-Fi. And it accelerated Wi-Fi’s expansion from homes and smaller spaces to become an enterprise mega-force — in everything from manufacturing and health care to retail and giant sports arenas.
Given this auspicious anniversary, we turned to Bill Davenport, Cisco’s senior director of technology and spectrum policy. He shared his thoughts on the critical impact and future need for this allocation, especially as new bandwidth-hungry technologies like AI and augmented and virtual reality continue to evolve.
Welcome, Bill! Given the five-year anniversary of the 6 GHz allocation, let’s start with a quick picture of the forces that led to the FCC decision.
Thank you, Kevin! Since its debut in the ‘90s, Wi-Fi has gone from a niche technology to something that today we rely on constantly. But at the same time, the applications that people are running on Wi-Fi are generally much more demanding. Things like high-definition video, video games, video conferencing, and really large data files require more spectrum to travel from point A to point B. And odds are that the person sending it or the person receiving it is using Wi-Fi.
So, it was essentially a matter of bandwidth?
Yes, the FCC recognized that back in 2020 when it made the 6 GHz band available. Because the spectrum bands that had existed up to that point were becoming more congested — and Wi-Fi traffic was literally doubling every three years — more bandwidth was essential. So, by making the additional 6 GHz band available, 1200 MHz of much-needed spectrum were added. That about tripled the amount of capacity for Wi-Fi. It gave the United States a real advantage in being able to use Wi-Fi for more and more purposes. And it made room for a wide range of new applications.
Of course, those new applications continue to demand more space.
Yes, technologies like AI, augmented reality, virtual reality, and 8k video are going to require big pipes, with tons of bandwidth. And the 6 GHz spectrum positions the United States to take advantage of those innovations as well.
What were some outcomes of the 2020 decision — for example, which industries have benefitted?
By making that additional spectrum available, the FCC put Wi-Fi into a new league in terms of performance. The 6 GHz band and the latest Wi-Fi standards have unlocked higher speeds, lower latency, greater reliability and security. And overall performance for Wi-Fi has improved to the point where it has become the dominant wireless technology for enterprise. We not only use Wi-Fi to access the internet at home and in coffee shops, restaurants, and hotels, but enterprises are also using Wi-Fi to manage robots operating in warehouses or factories. Hospitals are using Wi-Fi to operate monitoring equipment. Ports and mining operations are using Wi-Fi to communicate with their employees, conduct trainings, and manage their equipment. And there are so many more examples. So, the demands on Wi-Fi and the types of use cases for Wi-Fi have really evolved. In particular, we're talking about enterprise cases where maybe you have IoT devices rather than people communicating via the internet. That means the performance needed to step up. Because, for example, when you’re managing robots on a manufacturing line, they need to operate very precisely and with very low latency.
Has this increase in overall bandwidth impacted the digital divide?
The FCC authorized operations of the 6 GHz band not only indoors — at relatively low power — but also outdoors at a higher power, subject to certain protections to make sure that it didn't cause interference to the folks that were already in the band. So, we have seen operators take advantage of this policy by utilizing outdoor operations at higher power in the 6 GHz band to provide connectivity in rural areas, where it would be too expensive to run fiber. And because of the unlicensed nature of Wi-Fi, it's very cheap to set up connectivity. So, you can actually run Wi-Fi in a neighborhood. During the pandemic, we had lots of situations where restaurants and libraries used their Wi-Fi connectivity to allow students to keep up with their class work or to connect people who didn’t have broadband at home.
There’s been a lot of innovation in Wi-Fi in recent years. How has the 6 GHz allocation contributed?
Wi-Fi is constantly evolving. And one of the cool things about the 6 GHz band is that it takes advantage of some of the functionalities that have been enabled with the latest generations of Wi-Fi. Cisco and other companies are now manufacturing and marketing devices using the Wi-Fi 7 standard. This will improve the resiliency of your connectivity, the efficiency of your spectrum usage. And it will allow for much larger spectrum bands, 320 MHz to be specific, which will be really critical in the future of high-demand applications like, for example, virtual glasses and virtual gaming systems that are going to require large channels.
Speaking of Cisco, how else has it supported — and leveraged — the 6 GHz allocation?
Cisco is certainly a leader, with respect to advocating on behalf of new spectrum for Wi-Fi, particularly the 6 GHz band. And our customers are everywhere, ranging from small businesses, like your local coffee shop or clothing retailer, all the way up to major operations, such as automobile manufacturing and corporate campuses. So, we have a really good perspective about how enterprise Wi-Fi works. And we want to make sure that policymakers understand the importance of Wi-Fi to enterprise.
What is next for the 6 GHz allocation?
The last five years have seen hundreds of millions of 6 GHz devices deployed — from the Wi-Fi access points and routers to consumer devices like televisions and smartphones, as well as IoT devices like sensors and alarms. Everyone is making the most of the 1200 megahertz of spectrum in the 6 GHz band. A recent study from IDC found that 6 GHz has become the de facto standard for Wi-Fi enterprise uses, with more than 30 percent of companies already using or planning to use it within the next year.
It sounds like there’s a lot of Wi-Fi innovation to come.
Yes! We’re just getting started. 6 GHz Wi-Fi promises to be the foundation for connectivity between all our different devices and technologies. For example, IDC’s study also found that the top use cases for 6 GHz in the next two years will be IoT and sensors; the creation of new devices, apps, and services; and point of sales and payment systems. Cisco has also asked the FCC to permit 6 GHz Wi-Fi operations on cruise ships — essentially floating cities that rely heavily on Wi-Fi for their customers and their operations. And the FCC is looking at how Wi-Fi calling can help first responders locate emergency callers when regular mobile service is unavailable. So, 6 GHz Wi-Fi isn’t just for home streaming and email. Every year it’s becoming more critical to innovation, public safety, and economic growth.
And the momentum and relevance aren't likely to slow anytime soon.
People are constantly building new equipment and creating new ways to use Wi-Fi, whether for consumers or for enterprises. That's basically the story of Wi-Fi — it’s about innovation over the last 30 something years. It’s all about innovation. I see no end in sight, so it’s very exciting!
