By Elena Vasquez

A US presidential memorandum has identified 275 MHz of lower 7 GHz spectrum as a priority for winning the 6G race, one of the clearest signals yet that regulators see the band as the next mobile frontier. The directive, issued in December 2025, asks the administration to study the relocation of incumbent users in that segment and reflects growing momentum behind a "live-and-let-live" approach that hands the entire 7 GHz band to mobile while preserving the full 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi.

The proposal comes from Muhammad Alrabeiah, a member of Saudi Arabia's Spectrum Advisory Group, who argues in a recent viewpoint that the alternative "split-the-difference" framework now favored by Europe's Radio Spectrum Policy Group and Australia's communications regulator will fragment mobile spectrum and leave operators short of runway for 6G.

What is the spectrum fight about?

The contested ground is the upper 6 GHz band, from 6425 MHz to 7125 MHz. Saudi Arabia, the US, Canada and South Korea opened the full 6 GHz band (5925 to 7125 MHz) for unlicensed use in the early 2020s. The Wi-Fi industry built Wi-Fi 6E, Wi-Fi 7 and the upcoming Wi-Fi 8 around that decision. Mobile operators now want the upper 700 MHz slice for 6G. That move would shrink the unlicensed runway at the moment Wi-Fi traffic is climbing.

The 7 GHz band (7125 to 8400 MHz) sits directly above the contested slice and offers almost 1,300 MHz of contiguous spectrum. That is enough, Alrabeiah argues, to meet the long-term demands of mobile without forcing regulators to choose between the two industries.

Why is WRC-27 pivotal?

The 7 GHz band is now under study at the upcoming ITU-R World Radiocommunication Conference in 2027. Saudi Arabia and Japan have already hosted some of the earliest live network trials of 7 GHz, in what Alrabeiah calls strategic preparations for the 6G era. The trials suggest regulators and vendors now view real-world deployment, not just paper studies, as the next step.

"There is a better alternative to the split-the-difference framework," Alrabeiah writes, framing the live-and-let-live model as the policy path that keeps both industries supplied for years.

What does standardization add?

Countries with existing policies tied to the upper 6 GHz band will still pursue the split-the-difference framework, which Alrabeiah warns will fragment the mobile spectrum pipeline. His answer is standardization rather than harmonization: 3GPP and its partners should treat 7 GHz and the upper 6 GHz as a single umbrella band, with no sub-bands.

The umbrella approach lets vendors build equipment and handsets that adapt to local spectrum rules, streamlining production and giving operators flexibility. It is, however, a short-term fix.

Can Wi-Fi and 6G ever share the same band?

For the long term, Alrabeiah calls for joint spectrum standardization between the two industries, a step beyond the current NR-U standard, which he says reduces 5G to a best-effort technology by stripping out reliability and robustness.

Alrabeiah acknowledges the proposal is ambitious but says it is inevitable, since spectrum "remains a finite and limited resource." Future band-aware solutions will grow harder to engineer as the airwaves fill up.

What happens next?

The next eighteen months will determine which framework wins. If WRC-27 identifies 7 GHz for mobile and 3GPP standardizes the umbrella band before national regulators finalize upper 6 GHz policies, operators could enter the 6G era with a single global band rather than a patchwork.