Economy Minister, Sergio Massa, announced the free availability of the 6 gigahertz (GHz) frequency for Wi-Fi services provided by US technology platforms, despite protests from cell phone operators and their technology providers that they are Are. There is a demand that this frequency be reserved for fifth generation (5G) mobile telephony services.
In an act held at the headquarters of the National Communications Entity (ENACOM), Massa announced “a strategic decision in the field of telecommunications by enabling spectrum in the range of 6 GHz band, which will allow it to give a knowledge economy, SMEs and promoting areas of the digital world that need access to high-quality Wi-Fi, supporting technological advances and future growth.”
“We hope that Wi-Fi 6 allows for regional economies and competition for people who can provide services from different parts of the country,” Massa said.
And he added that during the coronavirus pandemic his son spent a lot of time in his room, with his computer, with other gamers who played and developed content. The economy minister said “a big part of the complaint was that there was a three-second advantage to play or develop material” that the Brazilian boys had because of the “latency” that Argentinian ties had. .
“The federalization of Internet service is narrowing the digital divide,” Massa said Tuesday afternoon at an event to which several executives from US companies were invited, such as Facebook (Meta), Google, Apple, Microsoft, Cisco, Amazon. , Intel and Qualcomm, among others.
The official body includes the Minister of the Economy, Sergio Massa, and the President of the National Communications Unit, Claudio Ambrosini. Image: Youtube Capture.
ENaCom President, Claudio Ambrosini, highlighted the work being done by the official body that issued radio spectrum regulation at the beginning of the month to move forward with the fifth generation (5G) of mobile telephony. And he highlighted the compatibility between 5G and the announcement of free Wi-Fi in the 6 GHz frequency.
But the press could not attend the event, as Enacom was forbidden to enter and had to follow Massa and Ambrosini’s speech via a YouTube link.
In fact, that link to other speeches appearing in a press release distributed by the official body with the words of the Secretary of the Knowledge Economy, Juan Manuel Cheppi, was not allowed to be heard; And the representative of the companies benefiting from this decision is Marina Berricua, Director of Public, Corporate and Legal Affairs at Microsoft.
The directors of protest at Enacom, Silvana Giudici and José Corral, were not at the event and were surprised because they had not been invited. And they could not understand how this announcement was made on a topic that has not yet been considered in the directory of the official body.
Nor were technology providers of cellular telephones such as Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia, who sent a note to Massa asking him not to decide to provide the 6 GHz frequency for Wi-Fi services for free, as it was a frequency Is. The band which is also used to provide 5G mobile telephony services, for which the state can collect millions of dollars.
Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia, together with the GSMA organization, sent a note to the Minister of Economy last month, highlighting “the positive impact that the decision to use the 6 GHz band in a balanced manner could have on the Argentine economy”. ”
There, those cell phone technology providers told the government that “the mobile industry supports a balanced approach to the 6 GHz band in Argentina, considering the lower part (5925-6425 MHz) for unlicensed use, such as Wi-Fi, and the upper band (6425–7125 MHz) for future licensed uses, such as 5G”.
“A decision in this sense allows us to know the conclusions on 6 GHz that will be reached at the World Radio Communications Conference (WRC-23) to be held in November, and access the benefits of having a globally harmonized 5G spectrum” , concluded the note from mobile technology provider companies.
This proposal was rejected by Massa by allowing global forums such as Google and Facebook (Meta) to use spectrum in the range of 5925 to 7125 MHz for completely free use, without license, by provider companies. Nothing has to be paid for the use of that radioelectric spectrum.
But what mobile technology providers are warning about is an imbalance, including giving away free frequencies to digital giants with global reach as the United States approves.
