ITU

U.S. Pushes 6 GHz Wi-Fi Strategy Against China

The fight over 6 GHz could shape future global telecom networks.

Georgina Mackie

Georgina Mackie

— 3 min read
U.S. Pushes 6 GHz Wi-Fi Strategy Against China
Photo of panelists at Monday’s World Radiocommunication Conference briefing

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2026 – Global spectrum negotiations in 2027 could determine whether countries build future wireless networks around American Wi-Fi technology or Chinese telecom infrastructure tied to Huawei.

Telecom officials and industry experts warned Monday that the fight over the 6 GigaHertz (GHz) band has become a broader geopolitical contest between U.S. Wi-Fi systems and Chinese-backed cellular infrastructure, during a briefing hosted by the Internet Education Foundation.

“The United States sits at one end of this and says the 6 GHz band should be fully unlicensed and used for Wi-Fi,” said David Redl, founder of Salt Point Strategies and former administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. “China, on the other hand, is pushing for there to be no Wi-Fi in 6 gigahertz at all.”

Post tagged in
ITU Huawei Spectrum 6 GHz David Redl Salt Point Strategies NTIA China Shanghai Evan Swarztrauber CorePoint Strategies Cisco Broadcom Hewlett Packard Enterprise Mary Brown WifiForward Telecom Advisory Services Washington North America Steve Lang FCC WRC

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