Rapid Fire
DoT De-licenses Half of 6 GHz Band
- 24 Jan 2026
- 3 min read
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has officially de-licensed the lower half of the 6GHz frequency band for indoor use, paving the way for the adoption of WiFi 6E and WiFi 7 technologies in India.
- Spectrum: The invisible radio frequencies used for wireless communication, ranging from 20 KHz to 300 GHz (a subset of the larger electromagnetic spectrum).
- 2.4 GHz: Offers wide coverage (passes through walls) but has limited data speed.
- 5 GHz: Offers high speed but has a shorter range.
- WiFi 6: Uses both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz simultaneously for greater efficiency.
- 6 GHz: Operates in the 5,925–7,125 MHz range, offering ultra-high theoretical speeds of 9.6 Gbps.
- Spectrum Allocation: The 6 GHz frequency range of 5,925–6,425 MHz is now license-free. This provides an "extra strand" of spectrum for routers, reducing congestion on the legacy 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands.
- This move enables “Multi-Link Operation” (MLO), a key feature of WiFi 7 that allows devices to transmit data across multiple bands (2.4GHz, 5GHz, and 6GHz) simultaneously, ensuring higher speeds and lower latency.
- Critical Use Cases: The 6GHz band is essential for high-bandwidth applications like Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), and high-fidelity cloud gaming, as it allows massive data flow with minimal lag.
- Global Context: India has adopted a balanced approach similar to Europe, splitting the 6GHz band between unlicensed use (for WiFi) and licensed use (potentially for 5G/6G), unlike the US (fully de-licensed) or China (reserved for mobile).
- Operational Restrictions: The de-licensed use is strictly for indoor environments.
- It remains prohibited on moving vehicles (cars, trains) and oil rigs to prevent interference with other critical services.
- Market Impact: This decision removes regulatory uncertainty, allowing the launch of advanced hardware (e.g., Sony’s PlayStation 5 Pro) that was previously withheld from the Indian market due to spectrum restrictions.
| Read more: 6G Technology |
