We’ve been hearing about 6G for a while now, and while it still feels like a far-off dream, and something that we don’t really need since 5G is already blazing fast. But the U.S. is quietly making moves to figure out where exactly this thing is going to live on the airwaves.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) launched a new website this week to track progress on its 6G spectrum studies. There are four candidate bands currently being looked at: 7GHz, 4.4GHz, 2.7GHz, and 1.6GHz. Each band must complete 12 detailed tasks before it can be greenlit. And the 7GHz band? It’s already cruising through steps 8 and 9, with an interference analysis coming up next.
Basically, 7GHz is the front-runner here, and that’s not exactly surprising.
Why 7GHz keeps coming up
The 7GHz band has been the favorite for a while. Nokia, Ericsson, and 5G Americas have all pointed to it as the sweet spot for 6G. T-Mobile even got an FCC waiver last year to test Nokia equipment in the 7GHz band. And just earlier this year, Samsung successfully verified its X-MIMO technology in that same 7GHz band, which is a pretty big deal.
The reason everyone’s gravitating toward 7GHz is pretty simple. It sits right between 5G’s 3.5 GHz mid-band and the millimeter-wave stuff. So you get a nice balance of capacity and coverage. Not too slow, not too short-range. It’s the Goldilocks zone.
NTIA chief Arielle Roth spoke at the CTIA Summit last week and made it pretty clear where things stand. She said the agency is on track to deliver its final report this coming December. The 2.7GHz and 1.6GHz bands are still working their way up to task five, so they’re a bit behind.
There’s still some bureaucratic stuff to deal with, though. Funding the spectrum studies requires Congressional notification and approval through the Spectrum Relocation Fund. And Congress has 54 days left to actually fund the 2.7GHz studies. So yeah, the clock is ticking.
But with Qualcomm aiming for commercial 6G systems by 2029, and GSMA warning that 6G will need three times more mid-band spectrum than what’s available today, getting these spectrum decisions locked in now matters. A lot.
The post The U.S. is making real progress on 6G spectrum, and 7GHz is leading the pack appeared first on Android Headlines.
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