Original article ISPreview UK:Read More
Ofcom this week began a new consultation on the UK’s provisional views and positions for the next World Radiocommunication Conference 2027 (WRC-27), which among other things appeared to indicate that the regulator would, at least for now, only support the release of an extra 125MHz of spectrum in the 7GHz band (7125-7250MHz) for use by future mobile broadband networks (i.e. 6G).
The next WRC, which is due to be held in Shanghai (China) between 18th October and 12th November 2027, is essentially a global forum where decisions are made about how different radio spectrum bands should be used and allocated for different regions across the world. Modern regulators like to try and harmonise spectrum usage, which is a finite resource, as much as possible between countries for reasons of compatibility and efficiency etc.
According to the consultation document, WRC-27 includes an agenda item (1.7) that seeks to identify additional radio spectrum frequencies for more high-speed connectivity to Smartphones (mobile networks) in areas of high demand (IMT – International Mobile Telecommunications).