Spectrum for in-home connectivity

Ensuring Spectrum Availability for In-Home Connectivity

Today, most traffic generated by Europeans goes through indoor Wi-Fi, with mobile networks only delivering traffic equivalent to 5% of total network traffic. While extensive indoor fibre wiring is the optimum technical solution, for many households this is not a realistic choice.  For the foreseeable future, the majority of the digital use cases - education, work, entertainment, e-health, e-government - occurs indoors (home, office, hospital, airports, etc) will rely on Wi-Fi.

Figure 1: Historical fixed and mobile traffic as % of total traffic. Data source: BNetzA.

What happens after the termination point up to the end-user device - for example, to what extent the Wi-Fi router is capping the fibre speeds subscribed by the end-user - is simply unknown by regulators and users. What we do know is that based on data¹ from CISCO, Europe has slower Wi-Fi connectivity speeds than other world regions. Misallocation of the 6Ghz band towards mobile networks would not only be a missed opportunity from the end user’s perspective but also from the standpoint of the FTTH operators and investors, as it could lead to lower uptake of FTTH networks and stranded  private and public investment (for instance towards connecting schools etc.). 

The EU is at risk of missing out on the next wave of the Wi-Fi revolution powering new applications. Unlicensed spectrum plays an important role in 5G networks through network offloading, as well as indoor service for fixed wireless customers. 5G country leaders like the US and South Korea have recognized this fact and firmly bet on the benefits of the next generation of Wi-Fi technologies to their societies by opening the full 6GHz band to unlicensed use. The US and South Korean cases illustrate that 5G success and sufficient Wi-Fi spectrum go hand-in-hand.

Europe needs to ensure that adequate spectrum is available for Wi-Fi.