> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Matthew Kandrach: Wi-Fi is America’s Secret Weapon for Wireless Competition - URL: https://broadbandbreakfast.com/matthew-kandrach-wi-fi-is-americas-secret-weapon-for-wireless-competition/ - Published: 2026-10-15T19:59:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-15T19:58:59.000Z - Description: Wi-Fi empowers cable providers to challenge traditional carriers - Author: Matthew Kandrach - Tags: Expert Opinion, #with-siderail, Spectrum, Comcast, Wi-Fi, FCC, Trump administration For years, Washington has heard the same pitch from the nation’s largest wireless carriers: auction more spectrum and competition will follow. What they leave out is that the most disruptive force in American wireless came from Wi-Fi, not another exclusive-use spectrum auction. That disruption has a face: cable’s entry into mobile service, which analysts now describe as equaling something close to a fourth national carrier. Spectrum Mobile® serves 12.5 million lines, while Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile has surpassed 10 million. Together, they have broken into a market long controlled by three national carriers, forcing incumbents to compete harder and giving families lower-cost alternatives. [![CTA Image](https://storage.ghost.io/c/29/97/29976d9d-89ea-4c77-8c0b-0e8a0eafed35/content/images/2026/10/bai_rough_2026_1001.jpg)](https://payments-na1.hubspot.com/payments/7TyXGqH4bm?referrer=PAYMENT%5FLINK&ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) [***Sign up for Broadband and AI in the Next Congress on Dec 1!**](https://broadbandbreakfast.com/broadband-and-ai/) [Early Bird Registration Until Oct. 16! ](https://payments-na1.hubspot.com/payments/7TyXGqH4bm?referrer=PAYMENT%5FLINK&ref=broadbandbreakfast.com) That growth is possible because cable’s mobile model pairs nationwide cellular coverage with the Wi-Fi networks Americans already use throughout the day. Eighty to ninety percent of smartphone data now travels over Wi-Fi. By routing most traffic there instead of through purchased cellular capacity, cable providers keep network costs down. Those lower costs show up in plans that save American families $1,000 or more each year. The wireless industry frequently points to falling prices as evidence that a spectrum policy centered on exclusive-use licenses for high-power cellular service can deliver greater competition (wireless service prices fell 4.3% in the year ending June 2026, even as demand for data and speed climbed). But, that argument skips a step. Prices fell because new competitors showed up that could compete on cost, not because wireless incumbents slashed prices in a sudden act of generosity. Crediting that trend to spectrum auctions, while ignoring the 22.5 million Wi-Fi-powered customers who have helped drive this decrease in prices, isn't a serious account of the market. That’s exactly the kind of competition the first Trump Administration set out to unlock. In 2020, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use, giving next-generation Wi-Fi the wide channels it needed for greater capacity, speed and reliability. Just as important, the decision removed the enormous entry cost into cellular service associated with exclusive licenses, providing a path to more competition. The market responded. Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 routers moved from promises to reality in homes and businesses nationwide, giving cable providers an even stronger platform for mobile competition. Today, companies are using the 6 GHz band to extend that connectivity beyond the home, making service seamless as customers move between indoor Wi-Fi, outdoor Wi-Fi and cellular coverage. Unlicensed spectrum like the 6 GHz band delivers something an exclusive license-only strategy cannot: low barriers to entry. The band lets companies that could never afford a nationwide network of licenses compete anyway, with a better product or a sharper solution to a local problem. That's how innovation spreads and how prices fall. None of this renders auctions obsolete. Exclusive licenses support large-scale investment and give some network operators the certainty needed to commit capital. But, auctions are a tool, not a strategy. If they are treated as the only path for spectrum use, the market will be shaped around the companies already large enough to win them. A truly competitive spectrum policy makes room for both tools: licensed spectrum for wide-area cellular networks, and unlicensed spectrum for the Wi-Fi that carries most smartphone data and enables lower-cost mobile competition. The previous Administration’s National Spectrum Strategy identified thousands of megahertz for further study, but studies and distant timelines are not a pipeline around which innovators can build. This call for studies helped fuel renewed calls to convert productive Wi-Fi bands to exclusive licensed use, a step that would narrow the field, entrench the largest incumbents, and put significant consumer gains at risk. The current Administration has an opportunity to build on one of the first Trump Administration’s clearest tech policy successes: protect the full 6 GHz band, identify new unlicensed and shared-access opportunities, and reserve auctions for the cases where exclusive licensing truly serves the public interest. The first Trump Administration delivered a balanced spectrum strategy. The market answered with more competitors and lower prices for American families. The job now is to protect that record. ***Matthew Kandrach is the President of Consumer Action for a Strong Economy (***[***CASE***](https://www.caseforconsumers.org/about/?ref=broadbandbreakfast.com)***). This Expert Opinion is Exclusive to Broadband Breakast.*** ***Broadband Breakfast accepts commentary from informed observers of the broadband scene. Please send pieces to*** [***commentary@breakfast.media***](mailto:commentary@breakfast.media)***. 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