With AI traffic expected to surge, Qualcomm sees spectrum decisions made today shaping 6G leadership in the future
While the standards and technology needed to support commercial 6G launches in 2029 are moving with strong momentum, policy decisions regarding access to new spectrum are a constraint. Given that technological leadership can underpin broader economic and geopolitical advantage — and capacity expansion will be crucial as AI systems proliferate across consumer and enterprise segments — making 6G spectrum available in late 2029 should be treated as a pressing national matter.
Qualcomm SVP of Spectrum Policy and Regulatory Counsel John Kuzin put it bluntly in an interview with RCR Wireless News: “The next generation of mobile is going to be critical to the next wave of economic growth…All major countries and regions of the world have recognized the importance of terrestrial wireless connectivity…It’s the only connectivity layer that can support a quality of service over a very wide region.”
Qualcomm began its 6G spectrum advocacy in 2021 because spectrum planning nowadays is a multi-year effort comprised of these steps:
- Establish a vision for the new spectrum needed to support next-generation use cases that require improved coverage and capacity
- Identify new bands and technologies able to support capacity demand and growth
- Ensure the targeted bands can be cleared or efficiently shared
- Allocate spectrum to service providers via auction or other allocation mechanisms to enable deployment
- Support commercial deployment and scale-out to deliver advanced connectivity and intelligent computing everywhere
In the U.S., the One Big Beautiful Bill Act creates a 6G spectrum roadmap, although it requires identifying and auctioning 800 megahertz of licensed mobile spectrum by 2034. With the industry coalescing around a 2029 launch timeline, Qualcomm sees the need for at least 600 megahertz of full-power mid-band spectrum ready for deployment by 2029, particularly if the U.S. wants to match the preparations being made in other regions.
Discussing the goal of providing 400 megahertz channel widths for 6G deployment, Kuzin pointed to opportunities from 2.7 to 2.9 GHz, 4.4 to 4.9 GHz and 7.25 to 7.4 GHz and higher; he also noted the challenges presented by incumbencies in some of those frequency ranges. That said, “We’ve seen a lot of progress,” Kuzin noted.
That is important given projected expansion in mobile traffic in general, but also significant expansion as AI usage continues to surge. Based on research from GSMA and Nokia Bell Labs, the direction is clear: global mobile data usage is expected to grow 4x by 2030 driven by the continued expansion of 5G, cloud gaming, the rise of XR and improvements in streaming video quality. Global WAN traffic is projected to grow from 5x to 9x from 2023 to 2033 with AI accounting for 33% of all traffic.
“It’s critical that that spectrum be opened because the growth trajectories we are seeing are showing massive amounts of growth due to AI, due to XR and also due to increased use of mobile gaming and mobile video,” Kuzin said. Specific to usage patterns from XR devices, he also called for an increased focus on uplink capacity. “5G is very downlink heavy. In order to have that uplink capacity, additional spectrum is going to be important.”
The World Radio Conference next year is a major upcoming milestone in the continued global alignment of 6G spectrum priorities. Kuzin said Qualcomm would push for “a very expansive view” of the spectrum bands under consideration for 6G; he acknowledged that not every band will be fully opened, but taking a broad view is “the way to win.”
