Latest 6GHz IMT industry progress
In recent years, 5G usage has grown rapidly with the surging data traffic, more mid-band spectrum is needed to address the service demand in the coming years. In the GSMA report “5G-Mid-Band-Spectrum-Needs-Vision-2030”, 2GHz bandwidth of mid-band is recommend for 2025-2030 for each country, and the upper 6GHz(6425-7125MHz) is one of the essential mid-band spectrums that can bridge the gap between the spectrum demands and existing spectrum. Last year in November, European Union has also made a decision to recommend its member states to support future mobile communication development in upper 6GHz band.
Consequently, upper 6GHz band has been attracting more and more interests, not only from the mobile industry but also from regulators. With fast popularity of the upper 6GHz band for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) consensus, the APAC region countries are likely to include upper 6GHz into their future IMT spectrum allocation plan to meet the rapid growth of the service demand.
During its meeting of 20-25 February 2023, the APAC administrations met in Busan to discuss the regional spectrum policy plan, including their position on the 6 GHz frequency band. Many countries expressed their desire to support IMT identification of 6 GHz at WRC-23, a global spectrum policy conference which will make decisions with far-reaching impacts on the development of mobile networks in all regions of the world.
Thailand Chulalongkorn University Announce 6GHz field test for 5G at MWC23
At the 2023 Mobile World Congress (MWC23) “5G Connectivity for Everything and Everyone, The Role of 6 GHz and UHF”, jointly hosted by the GSMA and mobile industry partners, Associate Professor Lunchakorn Wuttisittikulkij announced the timeline of 6 GHz field test in Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok for 5G-Advanced research.
Chulalongkorn University has been exploring the 6GHz band for future mobile communication such as 5G and 6G. In last December, the university got approval of the upper 6GHz band(6425-7125MHz) test spectrum from Thailand regulator “NBTC”. The field test already started at Chulalongkorn University since February 2023. The test results will be made available publicly which can provide good reference not only for Thailand but also for Asia pacific region countries (APAC) which is valuable for their future decision making on spectrum policy for 6GHz band.
Source: Carl Byoir & Associates