Wi-Fi Alliance® welcomes 2020 honorees into our Wi-Fi Alliance Hall of Fame. This series highlights the companies and individuals who have brought invaluable contributions to the Wi-Fi® industry, and have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to advancing the Wi-Fi Alliance mission to “connect everyone and everything, everywhere.” Read more on this year’s winners.
The Industry Impact Award recognizes outstanding member companies who have provided sustained service to Wi-Fi Alliance and made significant contributions to our mission and the Wi-Fi industry over the last year. Companies receiving this year’s award have had a material impact in gaining 6 GHz unlicensed spectrum for Wi-Fi, enabling Wi-Fi 6E to become a reality.
CommScope has made significant contributions to global Wi-Fi adoption by leading and actively participating in a number of Wi-Fi Alliance programs and launches. These include Passpoint®, Wi-Fi Vantage™ and helping to launch Wi-Fi EasyMesh™. As well, we have provided next-generation access points (APs) to support multiple Wi-Fi Alliance interoperability test beds. Most recently, our CommScope RUCKUS R750 access point (AP) was utilized in the Wi-Fi Alliance test bed to validate other devices for Wi-Fi CERTIFIED 6™ interoperability.
CommScope has been a strong advocate for 6 GHz unlicensed operations with appropriate protections for incumbents since the initial exploratory conversations with the FCC and international policymakers many years ago. CommScope brings a unique perspective and capabilities to this topic, being 1) a leading provider of enterprise and residential Wi-Fi solutions, 2) the leading frequency coordinator of existing fixed microwave systems in 6 GHz, and 3) a leader in dynamic spectrum coordination database technologies/systems – which will be critical for enabling the Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) required for Standard Power unlicensed operation in 6 GHz.
Wi-Fi 6E will truly be transformative. On April 23, 2020, the FCC voted unanimously to allocate 1,200-megahertz (MHz) of spectrum for unlicensed use in the 5.925-7.125 GHz (6 GHz) band. Wi-Fi devices that will operate in this band will be branded Wi-Fi 6E, as named by Wi-Fi Alliance. This historic action, the first major allocation of mid-band unlicensed spectrum in 20 years, gives 59 new 20 MHz channels for Wi-Fi use.
More channels translate into less congestion and this means better support for connecting more devices and device types.
