The wireless revolution has arrived, so much so that many forms of popular technologies are now referred to by their “generation” — Wi-Fi 6E, 802.11ax, Next Generation Internet of Things, etc. Work has begun developing standards for 6G, the sixth generation of wireless communications technologies. A maturing marketplace continues to push regulators to “find” new sources of wireless spectrum. Regulation is at an inflection point.
Regulators all over the world — generally lead by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) — have responded. Gone are the days of spectrum bands set aside specifically for one service, flanked by cushy “guard bands” (slices of unused spectrum) to provide maximum protection to each group of users. There are growing expectations that more and different wireless users will need to share the same band, while guard bands are no longer the norm, increasing opened for used by unlicensed devices.
