Battle for tech spectrum: US majors push Wi-Fi use for entire 6GHz band as Jio and Vi seek mobile allocation; Airtel and Qualcomm call for postponement – The Times of India

US tech giants Apple, Amazon, Cisco, Meta, HP and Intel have jointly opposed demands by Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea to allocate spectrum in the 6GHz band for mobile services. Instead, they are insisting that the entire band be reserved for Wi-Fi use, PTI reported.In a joint response to Trai’s consultation paper for the next round of spectrum auctions, the companies said technical and commercial readiness in the 6GHz band “has not been established” for mobile services and asked the government not to set timelines for the auction of the 6425-6725 MHz and 7025-7125 MHz frequencies.“We do not recommend setting timelines for a future auction of the 6425-6725 MHz and 7025-7125 MHz ranges for IMT… TRAI, along with the Ministry of Telecommunications, should review the allocation of the upper 6 GHz band following the outcomes of WRC-27,” the joint submission said, adding that all unused upper 6 GHz spectrum should be made available for unlicensed use in the meantime.The government has said that 400 MHz of the 6GHz spectrum will be available for auction immediately, another 300 MHz will be available by 2030, and 500 MHz in the lower band will be delicensed for low-power applications such as Wi-Fi.Jio has demanded that the entire 1200MHz available in the 6GHz band be included in the auction even as the government has decided to revoke the license for 500MHz in the lower range. Vodafone Idea has requested to sell the currently available 400 MHz. Airtel has asked the government to postpone the auction of the 6GHz band due to concerns over device availability, equipment readiness and global harmonization.Qualcomm echoed similar concerns, stating: “The upper 6 GHz band is critical to mobile growth in India… By postponing the auction… until after WRC-27, India is securing its 6G future, aligning with global standards and honoring its leadership aspirations.”Telecom industry body COAI, including Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea, was against the cancellation of licenses. “Revoking licenses is misleading and counterproductive… The licensed IMT spectrum guarantees quality of service, predictable performance and nationwide scalability,” the COAI said, warning that allowing unlicensed Wi-Fi deployments could reduce public treasury revenues and “provide a disproportionate advantage to foreign OTT players”.The newly identified 6425-6725 MHz and 6725-7125 MHz bands are part of the upper 6GHz range, while the 5925-6425 MHz band is for unlicensed low-power applications.