Pai to Seek April 23 Vote on Wi-Fi in 6 GHz, 5G Fund
FCC Chairman Ajit Pai confirmed Wednesday he will seek a vote at the commissioners' March 23 meeting on making 1,200 megahertz available for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use in the 6 GHz band. The draft rules are to be posted Thursday.
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“I’ve shared with my colleagues my plan to unleash next-generation Wi-Fi -- a plan that one champion of innovation has called, ‘without a doubt the single biggest opportunity in Wi-Fi -- and probably in wireless -- in a generation,” Pai wrote.
Also at the meeting, Pai seeks a vote on a 5G Fund for rural America. “This proposal would use multi-round reverse auctions to distribute up to $9 billion, in two phases to bring 5G service to rural areas of our country,” he said now: “Phase I … would target at least $8 billion of support over ten years to rural areas of our country that would be unlikely to be covered by the commitments made by New T-Mobile as part of its acquisition of Sprint.”