Big tech companies like Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Meta Platforms and Intel among others have warned India against rushing 6 GHz spectrum to market, telling the telecom regulator, TRAI, that auctioning the upper 6 GHz band for mobile services now would be “premature” and risks leaving the airwaves under-used for years due to a lack of technical and commercial readiness.
Amazon, Apple, Broadcom, Cisco Systems, Meta Platforms, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Intel Corporation — in a joint submission to the telecom regulator — said spectrum in the 6425–6725 MHz and 7025–7125 MHz ranges should not be part of the upcoming IMT or telecom auction because the global ecosystem for mobile use in this band simply isn’t ready.
They cited early trials showing serious performance limitations, especially in uplink capacity and indoor reliability, arguing that these are critical to service quality and remain unresolved. Pushing ahead now, they said, would risk spectrum “stall” and under-utilisation.
The companies also pointed to weak global demand: Hong Kong’s recent auction — the world’s first for the upper 6 GHz band — saw low participation, minimal premiums, and unsold spectrum. Hutchison didn’t bid at all, calling the IMT ecosystem immature with no compelling use cases and enough existing spectrum already available.
By contrast, they argued, unlicensed use of the full 6 GHz band is already delivering consumer benefits worldwide. Markets such as the US, Canada, South Korea and Saudi Arabia have enabled Wi-Fi 6E and Wi-Fi 7 across the entire band, with Europe, the UK, Australia and Japan moving in the same direction. They noted that millions of low-power 6 GHz Wi-Fi devices operate in the US without any reported harmful interference to incumbent broadcasting services.
India, they warned, still faces unresolved coexistence challenges for IMT in the upper 6 GHz band, meaning real-world consumer benefit could be “years away.”
The companies urged TRAI and the Department of Telecommunications not to set any timelines for IMT auctions in these ranges and instead review the band after the outcomes of WRC-27, which will address the wider 6–8 GHz range. Premature decisions, they said, could fragment India’s spectrum strategy and break global harmonisation.
Until then, they recommended that any upper 6 GHz spectrum that would otherwise lie unused should be opened immediately for unlicensed use to support faster broadband rollout, traffic offload from mobile networks, last-mile alternatives such as wireless fibre/FWA, and broader participation by ISPs and community networks.
Echoing the industry’s concerns, the Manufacturers’ Association for Information Technology (MAIT) also urged TRAI to defer any auction, warning that devices and infrastructure are not ready and that India risks technological isolation if it moves ahead before Europe and other major markets finalise their own 6 GHz frameworks.
“Holding off will allow India to align with global norms, secure economies of scale, and benefit from a mature device ecosystem,” MAIT director general Suhail Zaidi said.
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