Expanding access to the 6 GHz band for mobile services in the UK
Ofcom confirmed that any upcoming mobile award for the Upper 6 GHz band (6425–7125 MHz) in the UK will be offered on a subnational basis.
The physical characteristics of mid-band spectrum dictate how networks are built, and allocating the Upper 6 GHz band locally aligns directly with its real-world propagation behavior and capacity profile.
The Physics of Capacity: Why Subnational Makes Sense
The Upper 6 GHz band sits at a critical intersection in mobile network architecture. Unlike coverage bands below 1 GHz that penetrate walls and travel for miles, or ultra-high-frequency mmWave (26 GHz/40 GHz) that suffers severe line-of-sight and attenuation limits, Upper 6 GHz offers a distinct hybrid profile:
Extended reach over mmWave: It propagates significantly further than millimeter wave, making it far easier to integrate into existing cellular footprints.
Density over broad coverage: Despite outperforming mmWave in reach, its propagation loss is still too high for economically viable macro-coverage in rural or low-density environments.
Coverage Spectrum (<1 GHz): Broad reach, lower capacity
Upper 6 GHz (6.4–7.1 GHz): Targeted high-capacity urban macro
mmWave (26/40 GHz): Micro-cells, extreme line-of-sight density
Because of this profile, Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) will deploy Upper 6 GHz almost exclusively where high volumes of data traffic concentrate in tight geographic footprints. Expect dense urban rollouts on a subset of existing macro sites experiencing the highest peak-hour demand, paired with extremely sparse deployment in rural areas.
Ultimately, this spectrum is being primed to serve as the critical capacity engine for initial 6G rollouts in the UK starting around 2030.
Defining the Hotspots: How High-Density Areas Were Mapped
To structure a subnational award without reinventing the wheel, Ofcom built upon the high-density framework previously established for mmWave, applying additions to account for wider mid-band propagation.
The baseline for these high-density areas relies on two primary metrics:
Urban Centers (Population ≥75,000): ONS Major Towns & Cities Dataset
Peak-Hour Data Demand & Macro-Site Density: Ofcom Connected Nations Data
While Vodafone correctly highlighted that current 3 GHz/3.5 GHz capacity deployments often stretch beyond the narrow geographic footprint designed for mmWave, the core logic remains sound: traffic congestion is heavily concentrated in urban centers and venues with massive footfall.
Using the mmWave high-density areas as a structural baseline and scaling them outward to accommodate Upper 6 GHz’s wider reach provides an accurate proxy for where MNOs will actually need and deploy this capacity.
What This Means for UK MNOs and 6G Architecture
For operators and equipment vendors, Ofcom’s decision confirms that the primary challenge of late-5G and early-6G is targeted capacity layering rather than coverage expansion.
Subnational licensing avoids forcing MNOs to purchase broad national spectrum rights for frequency bands they would only ever light up in high-density urban cores. By focusing Upper 6 GHz spectrum where network load is highest, operators can cost-effectively scale urban network capacity, lay the radio foundation for 6G, and keep spectral efficiency aligned with actual user demand.
