FCC Chairman Pai Remarks at Wi-Fi Alliance Meeting

Thank you for recognizing me with your Wi-Fi Champion Award. Some might point out that it’s been nearly six weeks since the Federal Communications Commission adopted its 6 GHz Order, and ask: Isn’t it a bit late to still be taking a victory lap? To them, I would say: It’s a really big victory. We’re making the entire 6 GHz band—a massive 1,200 megahertz testbed for innovators and innovation available for unlicensed use. By doing this, we are effectively increasing the amount of mid-band spectrum available for Wi-Fi by almost a factor of five.

In addition to the Order, the FCC voted in April to explore possibilities for very-low-power devices in the 6 GHz band. Very low-power devices could enable a new and innovative generation of personal area network technologies with low latency, high capacity, and all-day battery life. We look forward to acting quickly to make 6 GHz available for these very-low-power uses. That will require a strong factual foundation. So, for those of you who have helped us get to this point on 6 GHz, the work isn’t done. Please participate in this next phase of our 6 GHz proceeding and give us the facts we need to move even further to facilitate unlicensed use of the band.