Saudi Arabia’s historic designation further drives worldwide momentum for Wi-Fi 6E
Kingdom positions itself well for immersive digital services over Wi-Fi through 2030
Saudi Arabia just took a historic step forward for wireless broadband connectivity, announcing that it will make the full 6 GHz band available for Wi-Fi use.
Broadcom commends the CITC for this visionary move. By unleashing all 1,200 MHz of the band for Wi-Fi, the Kingdom has now allocated 2035 MHz of spectrum for Wi-Fi — the most of any country in the world. With this decision, Saudi Arabia is now positioned to take full advantage of Wi-Fi 6E, and in the near future, Wi-Fi 7. Saudi Arabia is now the first country in Europe, the Middle East or Africa to move forward in opening the entire 6 GHz band.
An acknowledgement of the value of Wi-Fi
The move is a clear acknowledgment of the economic value of Wi-Fi and the technical merits of Wi-Fi 6E. CITC is expected to finalize the specific operating parameters in a future consultation. The rules are likely to allow for gigabit broadband everywhere and enable portable operations. Saudi citizens will thrive in the center of the digital world by accessing low latency, high throughput connectivity, and groundbreaking technologies like AR and VR. For everyday people, this means access to new educational and work opportunities they never could have imagined.
The new designation also paves the way for the next generation of Wi-Fi, called Wi-Fi 7. Where Wi-Fi 6E runs over 160 MHz channels, Wi-Fi 7 will support 320 MHz transmissions, getting speeds up to 5 Gbps in mobile devices at even lower latencies. The decision sets the stage for the next decade of Wi-Fi innovations with endless potential for Saudi citizens in impactful areas, including telemedicine, education and remote working.
A proud moment for Broadcom
Broadcom has been working for over five years to make 6 GHz Wi-Fi a reality. We’ve led from the front on product development, standardization, and regulatory discussions. With CITC too, we were in constant discussions regarding the rules, usage models, and the economic impact of unlicensed access in 6 GHz. So, when the CITC requested a demonstration of the Wi-Fi value proposition in 6 GHz, Broadcom, together with Intel, happily provided equipment for their trials. The Wi-Fi 6E trials showed 2 Gbps of speeds and millisecond latencies — metrics that enable 5G services and next-generation, digital usage models.
So, the CITC designation is indeed a proud moment for us. We are also happy to note that our joint Wi-Fi 6E trials catalyzed the 6 GHz designation for unlicensed access.
Saudi decision a pivot point in global 6 GHz momentum
The global momentum to enable Wi-Fi in 6 GHz was kickstarted by the FCC last April. This set in motion studies and consultations across geographies. Most of the Americas has since followed suit. In the Western hemisphere, South Korean rules were put in place before the launch of the world’s first Wi-Fi 6E phone — the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
The CITC designation, with rules that create a hotbed for unlicensed innovation in the coming decades, is expected to accelerate similar designations throughout the region. The rules expected to be ratified are worthy of emulation by other countries hoping to equip themselves optimally for our digitally immersive future. In that sense, the Saudi Arabian decision is a pivotal moment in the worldwide momentum to open up the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi use.
To round it all up, Broadcom congratulates Saudi Arabia for this momentous decision. We are excited to work with the nation in the future to help further the interests of global connectivity. It also gives us immense satisfaction that the country can instantly benefit from the Broadcom connected ecosystem of Wi-Fi 6E devices available in the market today, including the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra smartphone and NETGEAR RAXE500 router.
Go Wi-Fi 6E. And get ready to say hello to Wi-Fi 7 in the not-so-distant future.
