India’s technology sector is calling on the government to revise power regulations for Wi-Fi and wireless devices operating in the delicensed 6 GHz spectrum band, urging alignment with international standards to unlock the full potential of next-gen connectivity.
Leading this push is the Broadband India Forum (BIF)—an industry body whose members include Meta, Google, Microsoft, and Amazon. The group argues that the currently proposed limits—such as a power spectral density cap of -5 dBm/MHz and 14 dBm total transmit power for very low power (VLP) devices—are too conservative and could restrict device performance, coverage, and affordability.
Industry Push for Global Parity
BIF President T.V. Ramachandran highlighted that increasing the permitted power levels would ensure wider coverage for both indoor and outdoor use, particularly in rural and underserved areas. He stressed that India must align with global norms to fully harness technologies like Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7, which require wider channel bandwidths and higher power to support data-heavy applications including 4K video, AR/VR, cloud gaming, and IoT services.
DoT’s Draft Rules and Industry Concerns
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has issued draft guidelines for the 5925–6425 MHz (lower 6 GHz) band, now delicensed for unlicensed use. This paves the way for cutting-edge devices—such as advanced routers and gaming consoles—to operate in India without spectrum auctions.
However, industry experts argue that the current power limits suit only narrowband use cases (20–40 MHz) and fall short for wideband applications (80–320 MHz), which are crucial for delivering high-speed, low-latency connectivity.
Call for Additional Spectrum
The BIF and its members are also pushing for the government to delicense an additional 160 MHz of spectrum within the 6 GHz band, raising the total to 660 MHz. This would allow the use of dual 320 MHz channels, vital for fully realizing the capabilities of Wi-Fi 7.
The 6 GHz band offers theoretical speeds of up to 9.6 Gbps—significantly higher than the 1.3 Gbps of 5 GHz and 600 Mbps of 2.4 GHz—making it critical to India’s digital infrastructure expansion.
Looking Ahead
While the decision to delicense the 6 GHz band marks a progressive move, industry stakeholders are urging further reforms. Aligning power levels and spectrum availability with global benchmarks will not only improve device affordability and performance but also accelerate the country’s transition to a high-speed, digitally inclusive future.
