Work Continues on 6 GHz Automated Frequency Coordination, Experts Say

president-worldwide regulatory affairs, said during a webinar Thursday. In November, the FCC conditionally authorized 13 AFC providers to operate in the band (see 2211030066). The webinar, by the alliance, the Wireless Innovation Forum and the 6 GHz Multi-Stakeholder Group, examined technical details of AFC system lab testing. Use of AFC offers “enhanced performance, which is achievable with increased power limits,” Roytblat said. “That is why our industry, collectively, stepped up to facilitate enablement of the 6 GHz standard-power operation.” The Wi-Fi Alliance and WInnForum “invested significant resources, thousands of man-hours, to develop a suite of specifications” for AFC, he said: “These specifications are already enabling development of a vibrant 6 GHz AFC ecosystem and I’m confident that the information that we share will assist regulators and other interested parties in validating AFC capabilities and functionalities.” Industry has spent “a good two years of work on just the testing alone,” said Mark Gibson, CommScope senior director-business development and spectrum policy. Wi-Fi in 6 GHz is “transformative,” with billions of devices likely to be deployed in the next few years, “many of which will be under control of the AFC,” he said: “We’re really working hard to get this right out of the box.”