Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks spoke at a recent Fierce Wireless Wi-Fi Summit. He said that with the FCC’s decision in 2020 to free up 1,200 megahertz in the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, “Wi-Fi is really getting its biggest upgrade in nearly 20 years.”
In addition, the DC Court of Appeals recently ruled in favor of the FCC in terms of some power limits for the spectrum
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Wi-Fi is already used extensively. Starks said in 2022, nearly 18 billion Wi-Fi devices will be in use around the world. For the U.S., even before the 6 GHz decision, Wi-Fi has been estimated to contribute nearly $1.4 trillion to the economy.
Traditionally in the U.S., Wi-Fi has operated in the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. The opening up of the 6 GHz band is coinciding with the 6th generation of the Wi-Fi standard. And the devices operating in this band have been designated as “Wi-Fi 6E.”
“According to the experts, more than 350 million Wi-Fi 6E devices will enter the market this year,” said Starks. Those devices include routers, access points, smart phones, PCs, laptops and televisions for streaming.
“Here's the one thing that gives me a little bit of pause: is the Wi-Fi chip shortage,” said Starks. “We do have a worldwide supply-chain issue with silicon chips. Wi-Fi 6E is getting hit pretty hard for that. Making a chip turns out is one of the most intensive manufacturing processes. It can take quite some time, up to many months from the time a customer places an order to receive the final product. That’s something I’m going to be monitoring here as well.”
Starks also talked about Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) as well as Wi-Fi’s impact on the Digital Divide.
Check out the full video interview with Starks (above) from the Fierce Wi-Fi Summit.