India’s new spectrum roadmap puts 6 GHz Wi‑Fi on hold, irking Big Tech

India’s new National Frequency Allocation Plan has sidelined plans to open the 6 GHz band for licence‑free Wi‑Fi, leaving Big Tech’s push for Wi‑Fi 6E/7 spectrum in limbo.​

India’s NFAP‑2025, notified on December 30, assigns the entire upper 6 GHz band (6425–7125 MHz) to International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) for 5G, 5G‑Advanced and future 6G services, but stops short of finally earmarking any 6 GHz spectrum as licence‑exempt Wi‑Fi in the core national plan, despite earlier draft rules proposing delicensing 500 MHz in the 5925–6425 MHz range. This effectively pushes back the rollout of Wi‑Fi 6E and Wi‑Fi 7 in India, even as over 80–100 countries have already opened all or part of the 6 GHz band for next‑generation Wi‑Fi.​

The move has triggered strong criticism from major technology companies represented by bodies such as the Broadband India Forum, with players like Meta, Google and Qualcomm calling the omission of the lower 6 GHz Wi‑Fi band a policy reversal that could slow device ecosystems, indoor broadband capacity and use cases like cloud gaming, AR/VR and AI‑heavy applications. Telecom operators, however, have welcomed the clear identification of upper 6 GHz for mobile, arguing India needs large contiguous mid‑band holdings to avert a capacity crunch and to support data‑hungry 5G and 6G networks.​

Regulators had earlier floated draft rules to delicense 500 MHz in the lower 6 GHz band for low‑power indoor Wi‑Fi, but the process stalled after operators sought higher power limits and government agencies raised concerns about interference with satellite and broadcasting services, leading to further technical studies and delaying final Wi‑Fi decisions. Until a separate notification revives delicensing, Big Tech and Wi‑Fi equipment makers must wait, while spectrum planning clearly tilts toward mobile networks in India’s new roadmap.​
BCS Bureau