Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Wednesday proposed new rules[1] to open up the 6GHz spectrum band to unlicensed use, making room on the valuable mid-band spectrum range for Wi-Fi routers and other devices.
The full FCC will vote on the draft rules at its April 23 meeting.
The proposed rules would make 1,200 megahertz of spectrum available for unlicensed use -- effectively increasing the amount of spectrum available for Wi-Fi by nearly a factor of five.
In a statement, Pai called the proposal the FCC's "boldest initiative yet" to increase the spectrum for Wi-Fi.
"From Wi-Fi routers to home appliances, Americans' everyday use of devices that connect to the Internet over unlicensed spectrum has exploded," Pai's statement said. "That trend will only continue."
Pai cited research from Cisco, which projects that nearly 60% of global mobile data traffic will be off-loaded to Wi-Fi by 2022.
In a statement, Intel commended the FCC for moving forward with the plan to open up the 6GHz band, noting that it should significantly improve Wi-Fi access in the US.
The proposal "will enable significant new capacity, ensuring a solid future growth path for the Wi-Fi ecosystem relied upon by millions of homes and businesses," Gregory Bryant, EVP and GM of Intel's Client Computing Group said in a statement. "Intel looks forward to continue working with our partners to drive innovative use cases."
Members of the Wi-Fi Alliance, which includes companies like Aruba, Broadcom, Extreme Networks and Qualcomm, also commended the proposal[2], noting that Wi-Fi is a foundational technology for IoT devices, as well as a critical complement for 5G. The 6 GHz spectrum, the Alliance says, will facilitate Wi-Fi's growth in these areas and in delivering Wi-Fi 6, the