It is an inevitable trend to open up the 6GHz spectrum to 5G in the future

At the 7th Asia-Pacific Spectrum Management Conference held from May 24 to 27, representatives from GSMA, China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Radio Management Bureau, and several operators and manufacturers believed that with the rapid development of 5G and the growing data traffic applications, it is an inevitable trend to open up the 6GHz spectrum to 5G in the future. Some regions have stated that they will balance the potential demand for Wi-Fi and 5G and allocate the 6GHz spectrum in a balanced manner.

The 6GHz frequency band ranges from 5.925 to 7.125GHz, which is a 5G mid-band frequency along with the current mainstream 5G frequency band of 3.3 to 4.2GHz. It has a continuous large bandwidth of 1200MHz, which can perfectly adapt to the 5G 100MHz channel bandwidth and carrier aggregation technology, greatly improving the capacity of future 5G systems. In terms of coverage, although the 6GHz is weaker than the lower mid-band 3.5GHz in terms of wireless propagation characteristics, the relevant simulation and analysis results show that if the continuous development of related technologies such as propagation loss compensation is taken into account, the coverage capability of 6GHz can be close to that of the 3.5/3.8GHz band. Therefore, the 6GHz band has both coverage and capacity advantages, and is an ideal mid-band frequency band for 5G, which is conducive to the continuous construction of a continuous coverage, large-bandwidth 5G network to meet the growing network capacity requirements.

In general, 6GHz is a new frequency band that takes into account both coverage and capacity advantages. It can fully unleash the basic capabilities of 5G and generate more deterministic network value. Currently, WRC-19 and 3GPP NR have both set up special projects, and GSMA has also issued a statement calling on governments to allocate 6GHz for 5G use. However, some countries, such as the United States, prefer to build 5G on millimeter waves and leave 6GHz for Wi-Fi.