Over the past decade, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has adopted policies that have enabled unlicensed spectrum and Wi-Fi to grow and become a valuable and essential aspect of the telecommunications industry and economy.  On June 28, 2021, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) Vice President of Policy and Government Affairs Deborah Collier and FCC Commissioner Nathan Simington discussed the present and future state of unlicensed spectrum and Wi-Fi during a webinar co-sponsored by CAGW and WiFiForward. 

The panelists discussed how U.S. global leadership in telecommunications has been enabled by limited, light-touch government regulation, which has allowed significant freedom to development technologies like Wi-Fi, and how new technological advancements will require further policy initiatives. Commissioner Simington stated that he expects Wi-Fi networks 5G networks to both compete with and complement each other.  

Deb and Commissioner Simington also discussed the opening of the 6 GHz spectrum band for unlicensed use in the United States and other countries.  Commissioner Simington addressed how this would improve Wi-Fi speed and access, as well as opposition to this use of the spectrum expressed by several foreign countries and companies.  

The webinar highlighted the important ways Wi-Fi technology will advance and the benefits this will bring to both the U.S. economy and individual internet users.  The panelists agreed that the best way for the internet to continue to flourish is through continued limited government intervention.

You can view the event above or on YouTube.