Cruz bill could take 6 GHz spectrum away from Wi-Fi, give it to mobile carriers.

Can’t we just ship Cruz off to Cancun permanently at this point?

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has a plan for spectrum auctions that could take frequencies away from Wi-Fi and reallocate them for the exclusive use of wireless carriers. The plan would benefit AT&T, which is based in Cruz’s home state, along with Verizon and T-Mobile.

Cruz’s proposal revives a years-old controversy over whether the entire 6 GHz band should be devoted to Wi-Fi, which can use the large spectrum band for faster speeds than networks that rely solely on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that would require spectrum to be auctioned off for full-power, commercially licensed use, and the question is where that spectrum will come from.

When the House of Representatives passed its so-called “One Big Beautiful Bill,” it excluded all of the frequencies between 5.925 and 7.125 gigahertz from the planned spectrum auctions. But Cruz’s version of the budget reconciliation bill, which is moving quickly toward a final vote, removed the 6 GHz band’s protection from spectrum auctions. The Cruz bill is also controversial because it would penalize states that regulate artificial intelligence.

Instead of excluding the 6 GHz band from auctions, Cruz’s bill would instead exclude the 7.4–8.4 GHz band used by the military. Under conditions set by the bill, it could be hard for the Commerce Department and Federal Communications Commission to fulfill the Congressional mandate without taking some spectrum away from Wi-Fi.

  • Midnitte@beehaw.orgEnglish
    12·
    7 hours ago

    This would never work - there’s already WiFi 6 (or newer) equipment deployed.

    You somehow expect both Grandma and Samsung and Comcast to disable their 6Ghz wifi? AND you expect the military to give up their spectra and what… buy all new equipment that doesn’t exist?

    Ted Cruz is a fucking moron.

    • Skull giver@popplesburger.hilciferous.nl
      5·
      5 hours ago

      The 6GHz band was used before it was used for WiFi. Frequencies can be reassigned, and they get reassigned on a regular basis.

      It’s a pretty stupid thing to do that has no use other than annoying random people, but it the WiFi equipment industry can’t deal with changes like these, they need to get their act together. Samsung and Comcast will be fine, and grandma just needs to install her updates like she should be doing anyway.