Charter Statement on FCC Chairman Pai’s Proposal for New Rules for the 6 GHz Band

With millions of Americans relying on broadband networks to remain connected and productive while practicing social distancing, the need for Wi-Fi sharing in 6 GHz has never been more clear to more people. The FCC’s proposed 6 GHz Order will open up critical resources to improve Wi-Fi performance as workers, students, patients, healthcare providers, and financial institutions rely increasingly on online connectivity.

In addition to relieving Wi-Fi congestion, unlicensed sharing in 6 GHz is critical to ensuring Americans across the country have reliable access to 5G-level connectivity, from rural communities to urban centers and everything in between. The 6 GHz band has the potential to revolutionize Wi-Fi, bringing multi-gigabit speeds and significantly greater capacity to support more data-intensive devices and applications in the home, office, hospital, school, or enterprise.

We appreciate the FCC’s critical work to add much-needed unlicensed spectrum to the pipeline at this critical juncture, and we look forward to continuing to work with Chairman Pai and the Commissioners to build on today’s momentum and ensure that American consumers, businesses, and the economy can realize the full benefits of the 6 GHz band in a reliable and cost-effective way.