Technical note · August 2026
On 20 July 2026 Ofcom adopted a hybrid-sharing framework for the upper 6 GHz band, giving Wi-Fi priority access to part of it and mobile priority to the rest. It is a genuinely significant decision for anyone designing wireless in the UK.
It is also being misrepresented in sales conversations already. More spectrum does not mean fewer access points, and this note explains precisely why.
The decision, in figures
01 · What was decided
The UK opened the lower 6 GHz band — 5925 to 6425 MHz — to licence-exempt Wi-Fi in 2020. That is the spectrum Wi-Fi 6E has been using here, and it provides room for three 160 MHz channels, or a single 320 MHz channel with very little left over.
The July 2026 statement addresses the upper part of the band. Rather than awarding it entirely to mobile or entirely to Wi-Fi, Ofcom adopted a hybrid-sharing approach: Wi-Fi takes priority across 6425 to 6585 MHz, and mobile takes priority across 6585 to 7125 MHz, with mobile deployment expected from the 2030s.
For indoor Wi-Fi the operating regime is unchanged in character. Low Power Indoor operation remains licence exempt and requires no coordination system. Very Low Power operation covers portable devices such as hotspots and wearables. Higher-power and outdoor deployment — stadium, campus or hospital coverage — must operate under an Automated Frequency Coordination system that protects incumbent users.
What this gives Wi-Fi 7
Wi-Fi 7's headline capability is the 320 MHz channel. In the lower 6 GHz band alone there is effectively room for one, which in a multi-floor building means neighbouring access points fighting over the same spectrum almost immediately.
The additional 160 MHz of Wi-Fi-priority spectrum materially improves channel planning in dense deployments. That is a real gain, and it is the correct reason to be pleased about this decision.
02 · The claim to be sceptical of
The argument now circulating is that because there is more 6 GHz spectrum available, a Wi-Fi 7 refresh needs fewer access points than the design you were quoted last year. That does not follow, and here is the reasoning.
The honest summary
The 2026 decision means a well-designed Wi-Fi 7 deployment will perform noticeably better in dense environments than the same access point count could have delivered a year ago.
It does not mean the same building needs fewer access points. Any proposal claiming a reduced hardware count on the strength of the Ofcom decision should be tested against the statement itself before it is accepted.
03 · The part nobody quotes for
A wireless refresh is presented as a wireless project, and it very rarely is. Moving from Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 to Wi-Fi 7 across an estate changes three things below the access point, and all three cost money that wireless quotations habitually omit.
Backhaul. A Wi-Fi 7 access point capable of multi-gigabit aggregate throughput on a 1 Gigabit link is throttled by its own cable. Cat6A supporting 10 Gigabit to the full 100 metre channel is the sensible minimum, and on many estates the existing Cat5e or Cat6 horizontal does not provide it.
Power. Wi-Fi 7 access points commonly require IEEE 802.3bt Type 3 or Type 4 PoE, where earlier generations ran on Type 1 or Type 2. That is a switch question, a PoE budget question and — since April 2026 — a BS 7671 Section 716 question about bundle heating and containment.
Position. A capacity-led design puts access points where the users are, which is rarely where the last generation was mounted. New positions mean new cable routes, new containment and new penetrations, each of which needs fire stopping and a photograph before the ceiling closes.
Ask before you accept a wireless quotation
04 · Common questions
No. Indoor transmit power is unchanged, and 6 GHz propagates less well than 5 GHz, so per-access-point coverage is not improved. The decision improves capacity and channel planning in dense environments. Any proposal reducing hardware count on the strength of it has misread the statement.
Not for a conventional indoor deployment. Low Power Indoor operation is licence exempt and requires no coordination. Automated Frequency Coordination applies to higher-power and outdoor use — stadium, campus-wide or external coverage. If your deployment is indoors at standard power, AFC does not enter the picture.
Only where capacity genuinely demands it and the cell is small enough to sustain it. A 320 MHz channel spreads transmit power across four times the bandwidth of an 80 MHz channel, reducing the range at which clients decode reliably. In a dense deployment with many access points it can be the right call; in a sparse one it usually is not.
It depends on the length. Cat6 supports 10 Gigabit only to roughly 55 metres under favourable conditions; Cat6A supports it to the full 100 metres. Many access point positions sit beyond the Cat6 limit, so the honest answer requires measuring the actual channel rather than assuming. We will test the existing links and report on it as a standalone commission.
Ofcom's framework anticipates mobile deployment in the priority portion from the 2030s. Wi-Fi has priority access to 6425–6585 MHz, so a Wi-Fi 7 design planned within that portion is not planning around an imminent displacement.
Yes, and we would recommend it. We survey at no charge* and issue the report whether or not you place an order. Where the existing wireless infrastructure is sound and only needs a cabling or PoE upgrade, we will tell you that in writing.
Wireless design
A wireless quotation without a survey is a materials list with a margin on it. We design against the drawings, validate against the built environment, and evidence the coverage you paid for.
This note is a plain-language summary prepared for clients and specifiers. It is not regulatory advice and is not a substitute for Ofcom's published statement, which should be consulted directly. Stated as at August 2026. Source: Ofcom, statement on expanding access to the 6 GHz band for commercial mobile and Wi-Fi services, 20 July 2026.