Is the “Big Beautiful Bill” a threat to the Wi-Fi industry?

The bill, which sets out the budget for the US government alongside various other measures, was signed into law on 4 July. It mandates the Federal Communications Commission, the US regulator, to auction 800 MHz of spectrum and has sparked concerns in the Wi-Fi industry due to a lack of explicit protections for Wi-Fi.

This fear was exacerbated by the fact that the previous version of the bill passed by the House did include explicit protections for the 6 GHz band. These were removed in the final text.

Robinson says the risk for Wi-Fi, although real, is narrower than the headlines suggest. The legislation only requires 300 MHz of spectrum to be identified from non-federal sources, with another 200 MHz expected to come from federal users.

The text also specifies that 100 MHz has to come from the 3.98–4.2 GHz band. This leaves only 200 MHz of “risk” to other incumbents, including the unlicensed users such as Wi-Fi currently using the 6 GHz band.

Robinson says he feels confident that the Wi-Fi industry is well-placed to avoid the risk of losing spectrum, but adds that attempts to take any away could be “existential”.

The podcast also touches on the recent trend of South American countries, including Brazil and Chile, reversing their decisions to earmark the entire 6 GHz band for unlicensed use. They now intend to make the upper part of the band available for mobile use.

Richard also asks Robinson about the hybrid sharing model currently under consideration in Europe, and why many Asian countries are following China’s footsteps, making the 6 GHz band available for mobile rather than Wi-Fi.

Listen to the full episode for free below, or find us on your favourite podcast platform. Just search for “PolicyTracker”.