en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), at the 2026 Mobile World Congress Shanghai Policy Leaders Forum held in Shanghai, China on June 25, jointly issued an initiative with over 60 global telecom operators, equipment manufacturers, and upstream and downstream enterprises in the industry chain, declaring support for the use of the 6425–7125 MHz band for mobile communications. This band, commonly referred to as the upper 6GHz band, spans a continuous 700 MHz bandwidth and is considered a key mid-band resource in the evolution from 5G-A to 6G.
Participants in this joint initiative cover multiple segments of the mobile communications industry chain. China Telecom, China Mobile, and China Unicom, as China's basic telecom operators; Huawei and ZTE, as Chinese equipment manufacturers; OPPO and Xiaomi, as Chinese terminal manufacturers; along with international industry partners, have jointly joined the initiative. The goal is to encourage more countries and regions to clarify frequency policies for using the 6GHz band for mobile communications, providing more stable spectrum expectations for global 5G-A and future 6G network construction and large-scale development of the industry chain.
The 6425–7125 MHz band sits between traditional mid-band and higher frequency bands, offering both capacity and coverage value. Compared to the millimeter-wave band, the 6GHz band has a larger coverage radius and more controllable network deployment costs; compared to some existing low and mid-bands, it provides wider continuous bandwidth, suitable for high-speed, high-capacity, and low-latency services. For operators, this type of spectrum resource can supplement capacity based on existing site and network architectures, alleviating mobile data pressure in hotspot areas, industrial parks, transportation hubs, sports venues, commercial centers, and high-density urban areas.
Mobile communication networks are entering a new phase driven by AI. Smart terminals, the Internet of Vehicles, the Industrial Internet, robotics, the low-altitude economy, XR applications, and edge intelligence will all generate higher data transmission demands. Traditional mobile broadband has emphasized connections between people and between people and content; the next phase of networks needs to support high-frequency interactions between devices, intelligent agents, cloud platforms, and edge nodes. If the 6GHz band achieves consistent global or regional spectrum policies, it will facilitate the synchronized maturity of base station equipment, terminal chips, RF components, antenna systems, and testing and certification processes, reducing the cost of industry chain adaptation.
The GSMA anticipates that in the coming years, multiple countries and regions in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas will successively introduce frequency policies for using the 6GHz band for mobile communications. The certainty of spectrum policy is the foundation for forming a large-scale ecosystem in the mobile communications industry. Only when major regions achieve high consistency in frequency planning will equipment and terminal manufacturers have the incentive to engage in large-scale R&D, production, and commercial adaptation, and operators will find it easier to conduct network planning and investment calculations around the same band.
China has already clarified the use of the 6425–7125 MHz band for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) systems at an early stage. The updated radio frequency allocation regulations released in 2023 allocate all or part of this band for IMT systems, providing an institutional foundation for 5G-A and future 6G spectrum reserves. The participation of China's three major basic telecom operators, equipment vendors, and terminal manufacturers in this initiative further demonstrates that China's communications industry chain aims to drive the 6GHz mobile communications ecosystem from a single market toward global synergy.
The industrialization of the 6GHz band still requires coordination across multiple segments. Operators need to verify network coverage, capacity enhancement, site reuse, and return on investment; equipment manufacturers need to launch mature base station, RF, and antenna products; terminal manufacturers need to drive adaptation of chips, RF front-ends, and complete devices; and regulators in various countries need to address spectrum coordination issues between mobile communications, satellite, fixed services, and wireless local area networks. Once spectrum resources enter commercial deployment, subsequent work involves license issuance, technical standards, interference protection, and cross-border coordination.
The GSMA will continue to promote the expansion of the initiative and call for more member units and relevant parties in the industry chain to participate. After the subsequent joint statement is released, the industry consensus on using the 6GHz band for mobile communications will be further clarified. For the global communications industry, the core of this initiative is not a statement on a single band, but an industry mobilization around 5G-A evolution, 6G preliminary preparations, mobile AI business growth, and global spectrum coordination. Whether the 6GHz band can become a key spectrum resource for a unified global mobile communications ecosystem will depend on the speed of policy implementation in various regions, equipment maturity, terminal support scope, and operators' commercial deployment pace.
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