The “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law by President Trump in July offers good news and challenges to the 5G and 6G ecosystems, according to a new report from Mobile Experts.
The press release begins with positive news for the industry. The firm said that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can resume licensing spectrum for commercial uses.
The firm says that two bands, at 3.1 to 3.45 GHz and at 7.4 to 8.4 GHz, were excluded for commercial use. The firm characterized this as a disappointment because of their potential to support high-capacity mobile traffic. The bill designated spectrum at 2.7-2.9 GHz, 4.4 to 4.9 GHz, and 7.25 to 7.4 GHz for study. The bill directs the FCC to auction 100 MHz between 3.98 to 4.2 GHz.
Mobile Experts says that the results are a mixed bag. 6G proponents hoped for a 400- to 500-MHz-wide block of spectrum between 7.1 GHz and 8.4 GHz despite the incumbent users, the report says. That is off the table. However, the legislation creates opportunities in four bands.
“The impact on our forecast is pretty complex here,” Mobile Experts’ Principal Analyst Joe Madden said in a press release about the 5G and 6G forecast report. “We’ve increased the number of products to be sold in the US market, and we’ve firmed up the timing of the next investment wave… but the number of sites deployed could be lower.”
The context of the report is the great increase in traffic caused by the explosive growth of AI. Mobile Experts looked at the issue a year ago this week. If anything, the need for more bandwidth has grown since the earlier report.
In March, a study conducted by Accenture for the CTIA suggested that a shortage of midband spectrum could affect gross domestic product (GDP), technological innovation, and national security.
