Upper 6GHz spectrum is critical to 6G services in Europe

European Telecom operators have urged Europe to make all the upper 6GHz spectrum (6.425-7.125 GHz) available for the use in the deployment of 6G networks.

The case was outlined in an open letter prepared by A1 Group, BT Group, DTAG, KPN, Elisa, Orange, Proximus, Telefonica S.A, Telia Company, TIM, United Group and Vodafone Group.

They suggested that without full availability of the band 6G services would be “significantly curtailed” and would “jeopardise Europe’s opportunity to play a leading role in 6G deployment”.

The upper 6GHz spectrum is also being coveted by US stakeholders who want to use it to deploy Wi-Fi networks.

Two solutions were proposed, which are that the entire upper 6GHz spectrum is used for the launch of 6G. Or alternatively new spectrum for mobile at the 2027 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-27) in e.g. the 7-8 GHz band.

Hybrid Sharing      

A similar issue has also been examined in the UK with OFCOM proposing a hybrid sharing model of the upper 6GHz spectrum between mobile networks and Wi-Fi networks.

This involves splitting the frequency into a priority section for mobile and another for Wi-Fi. Both systems would also be able to use other parts of the spectrum where the other service is unused.

However, based on what the European operators have suggested this may not be an acceptable compromise for the deployment of 6G.