Cellular Players Face Stiff Opposition to 5G Proposal in 6GHz

India, March 20 -- A wide range of cellular companies is urging the FCC to allocate a portion of the 6GHz band for licensed 5G operations. But that proposal is facing heated opposition from a diverse set of opponents that stretch from cable companies like Charter to tech companies like Apple to network equipment companies like Cisco.

At the heart of the issue is whether -- and how -- the FCC might free up some of the spectrum in the 6GHz band. Right now companies like CenturyLink, AT&T and U.S. Cellular use the 6GHz band for wireless backhaul links, among other things. In fact, U.S. Cellular specifically makes heavy use of the 6GHz band for backhaul, counting a whopping 3,500 locations across 2,000 spectrum licenses that use either the 5.9...