Dear Journalist,

The EU is close to making a serious strategic error with respect to usage of the 6 GHz spectrum band, which is crucial to enabling Europeans to fully benefit from fibre-based connectivity.

Attached you will find an open letter to EU digital ministers from the Wi-Fi Alliance and the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) expressing their deeply held concerns about an unwarranted and unsubstantiated change in the position of the German government ahead of a key decision by the EU’s Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG).

If the RSPG recommends that none of the upper 6 GHz band be made available for use by licence-exempt technologies, Europe’s digital development could be severely impaired. Such a decision would run counter to much of the evidence submitted to the RSPG, risk weakening Europe’s competitive position and could leave households and businesses with insufficient Wi-Fi capacity.

If you would like to learn more, Kevin Robinson, the CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance, and Martha Suárez, the President of the DSA, are available for interview.

The open letter has also been published on the Wi-Fi Alliance and DSA websites on Thursday 6th November.

Please find the official press releases published on the Wi-Fi Alliance website (https://www.wi-fi.org/news-events/newsroom/open-letter-importance-wi-fi-upper-6-ghz) and the DSA website (https://www.dynamicspectrumalliance.org/statements) , together with the PDF versions of the open letter available from Wi-Fi Alliance and the DSA (https://www.wi-fi.org/system/files/Open_Letter_Importance_Wi-Fi_in_upper_6_GHz.pdf).

The open letter can be seen below:

Dear Minister

Following on from our recent letter regarding the future of wireless connectivity in Europe, we are writing to raise our profound concerns about how the EU is addressing this important issue. When it comes to allocating key spectrum bands, political considerations appear to be now overriding the concrete evidence gathered by the EU’s expert groups.

The extensive input to both the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) and the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) has highlighted how Wi-Fi is better placed to use the upper 6 GHz band (6425-7125 MHz) than mobile networks.

Yet we understand that the German government has ignored this input and changed its position to now advocate that all 700 MHz in the band is prioritised for mobile networks. If this stance is adopted at the forthcoming RSPG Plenary on November 12th, the RSPG will be disregarding its mandate to study “the efficient use on a shared basis” of the upper 6 GHz band by licence-exempt technologies, such as Wi-Fi, and mobile networks, such as 5G.

European stakeholders are calling for more spectrum for Wi-Fi

Blocking Wi-Fi access to the upper 6 GHz band would be devastating to the future of Wi-Fi technology in Europe. This spectrum is uniquely positioned to sustain the evolution of the Wi-Fi ecosystem and enable the next generation of digital innovation.

Reserving this critical spectrum for hypothetical 6G deployments that may never materialise – at the expense of advanced 6 GHz Wi-Fi technology that already exists and can deliver tangible connectivity benefits to European consumers and businesses – would be a serious misstep.

Wi-Fi is the most cost-effective and energy-efficient means of delivering broadband connectivity. Indeed, most of the responses to the RSPG consultation, including those from a wide range of European stakeholders, called for at least 320 MHz of the upper 6 GHz band to be made available for Wi-Fi. In Germany, for example, trade associations, representing several thousand companies, have called for the entire band to be made available for Wi-Fi. The RSPG should not ignore this very clear message.

Failing to allocate any portion of the upper 6 GHz band to licence-exempt use would contradict the Commission’s Mandate (https://cept.org/files/1412/Mandate to CEPT upper 6 GHz band.pdf), and could seriously undermine the credibility of the institutional process. Such an outcome would be inconsistent with the EU objectives of promoting spectrum sharing, competition, innovation and broad access to connectivity. Such a move would be a major setback for Europe’s digital economy and ambitions to be competitive in the industries of the future.

Yours sincerely

Martha Suarez

President, Dynamic Spectrum Alliance

Kevin Robinson

President and CEO, Wi-Fi Alliance

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For further information contact: Sadek Zitout <Sadek.Zitout@whitehousecomms.com> - Whitehouse Communications

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