GSMA says 80% of population backs upper 6 GHz mobile use

TL;DR: On 7 September 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, the GSMA said the mobile industry is ready to deploy services in the upper 6 GHz band and urged governments to include the full 6.425–7.125 GHz band in mobile spectrum roadmaps. The GSMA said countries representing more than 80% of the world’s population now support mobile use of the band, and more than 60 companies across the mobile ecosystem have backed large-scale deployment.

On 7 September 2026 in Kuala Lumpur, the GSMA said the global mobile ecosystem is ready to deploy services in the upper 6 GHz band and called on policymakers to plan the spectrum for mobile use. The GSMA said governments and regulators should include the full upper 6 GHz band, defined as 6.425–7.125 GHz, in national spectrum roadmaps and make it available for full-power macro-cell mobile use.

The GSMA said countries accounting for more than 80% of the world’s population now support mobile use of the upper 6 GHz band after its harmonisation at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023. The organisation said the band has since been added to national spectrum roadmaps, which it said provides scale for a global equipment ecosystem.

The GSMA said more than 60 mobile operators, device manufacturers, chipset makers, network equipment providers and other companies have joined its call to support large-scale deployment of upper 6 GHz networks. The GSMA also said the first upper 6 GHz spectrum assignments have already been completed, with further awards expected across EMEA, Asia-Pacific and the Americas.

The GSMA said the upper 6 GHz band can provide city-wide capacity for full-power macro-cell mobile networks and support the evolution of 5G-Advanced and the future introduction of 6G. The organisation said the band can enable 200–400 MHz channel bandwidths that are expected to be required in the 6G era.