Tech Group Says Seamless, Widespread Connectivity more Important than Speed for 6G
The Open Technology Institute suggested more industry coordination on indoor/outdoor handoffs, and more mobile-satellite service spectrum.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 3, 2026 – The next generation of mobile connectivity should be focused on creating a seamless experience and eliminating dead zones, rather than only an increase in speed, argues New America’s Open Technology Institute.
On the seamless front, that would mean handsets automatically switching between Wi-Fi, cellular, and satellite-based service depending on which has the best connection at any given moment, the group argued in a recent report on 6G.
The high-bandwidth uses envisioned for 6G will require consistently strong signals as consumers move around, the report argued.
“What’s missing is a seamless handoff as you move indoors or outdoors between the mobile network and Wi-Fi. Instead, when you go from indoor to outdoor the smartphone, which defaults to Wi-Fi, tries to hold on to that access point long after the signal is too weak to maintain your session,” said Michael Calabrese, director of the wireless future project at OTI and one of the report’s authors.
That kind of automatic switching would also be helpful in the case of a device that was in range of both a Wi-Fi and mobile network, but one of those was experiencing congestion, the report said.
The problem is the arrangement would require some more extensive cooperation between wireless carriers and enterprise/public Wi-Fi operators, Calabrese said. The mobile industry’s 3rd Generation Partnership Project has a framework for doing so, but it requires traffic to flow through a carrier’s 5G core, and the Wi-Fi and cable industries are still working on something similar.
Calabrese said some nudging from the Federal Communications Commission could be helpful for fostering more coordination.
“What they could do is have a notice of inquiry about how this can be accomplished,” he said. “And then, given that input, authorize a multi-stakeholder group to make recommendations.”
More mobile-satellite spectrum
In terms of expanding connectivity, OTI has been arguing for more spectrum to be made available for mobile-satellite service. Calabrese said the group prefers spectrum purely for direct-to-cell service via satellites over satellite providers using mobile carrier spectrum through private deals.
The FCC set up its supplemental coverage from space (SCS) framework for approving those deals last year. Starlink has such a partnership to provide service on T-Mobile spectrum, and AST SpaceMobile has a similar deal with AT&T and Verizon.
The agency is considering making a large amount of higher band spectrum available for fixed-satellite service like home broadband, but Calabrese said mobile-satellite service required lower band spectrum.
To that end, OTI and Public Knowledge, along with SpaceX, have asked the FCC to make the upper C-band available for mobile-satellite service as part of its upcoming auction. By law, the agency has to sell off at least 100 megahertz of the band, which sits at 3.98-4.2 GigaHertz (GHz), to the wireless carriers.
The remaining unsold amount could potentially be made available for sharing between the video distribution incumbents and MSS, OTI argued, and what is sold could be opened up for MSS on a secondary basis.
Calabrese said studies being done by National Telecommunications and Information Administration, which manages federal spectrum, into the government’s 2.9-2.9 GHz and 4.4-4.9 GHz bands should consider their potential mobile-satellite service.
“It could be that direct-to-device can share some bands with federal users that high-power mobile could not,” he said. “They’re very different animals.”
SpaceX reached a deal last year to purchase 50 megahertz of spectrum from EchoStar for nearly $20 billion, and is asking the FCC for approval to launch a 15,000-satellite constellation to support a next-generation direct-to-cell service using the airwaves.
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