Summary

  • A one-line date substitution ties the 2021 radio-equipment exemption to Ofcom’s October 2026 IR 2030, extending ordinary licence-exempt Wi-Fi by 160 MHz.
  • IR 2030 took effect on 23 October; the amendment was made on 27 October and comes into force on 10 November.

The rule has two clocks

A regulator can publish a technical standard and still leave users waiting for the legal permission that points to it. Ofcom’s 6 GHz update has both dates in the record: its revised Interface Requirement 2030 (IR 2030) took effect on 23 October, while the Wireless Telegraphy (Exemption) (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 2026 will come into force on 10 November.

That gap matters because the amendment does not write a new spectrum table into the 2021 exemption rules. It changes their reference. Regulation 4 now points from the April 2026 version of IR 2030 to the October 2026 version. The revised technical requirement then carries the expanded range. The legal switch is a version date.

Ofcom made the amendment on 27 October and announced it on 30 October. From 10 November, the licence-exempt Wi-Fi range stated by Ofcom moves from 5925–6425 MHz to 5925–6585 MHz. The added portion is 160 MHz, the lower slice of the Upper 6 GHz band that Ofcom designated for Wi-Fi priority in its July decision.

The conditions remain specific. IR 2030 lists low-power indoor use at up to 250 mW mean EIRP and very-low-power use at up to 25 mW, including mobile outdoor use. It caps mean EIRP density at 12.6 mW per MHz. Low-power indoor equipment must operate inside a building or an equivalently enclosed space; airborne use is prohibited. This is a usable extension for indoor networks and very-low-power devices, not a blank cheque for high-power outdoor access.

Ofcom’s July framework keeps another lane in view: Wi-Fi has priority in 6425–6585 MHz, while mobile has priority in 6585–7125 MHz. Higher-power operation and use that depends on dynamic spectrum access remain tied to AFC controls under that framework. The October amendment is narrower: it updates the ordinary exemption to match the October technical requirement.

Four organisations responded to the July notice by the 7 September deadline: the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, Wireless Broadband Alliance, Associazione Italiana Internet Provider and an IEEE 802 LAN/MAN Standards Committee representative. Ofcom says all four supported the regulations and updated IR as drafted. Three cited the capacity and performance value of the extra 160 MHz; that is a record of four responses, not a survey of the whole market.

The public record now supplies the rule, the limits and the start date. It does not name a compliant device or measure a live network using the added spectrum. That device or deployment evidence after 10 November is the missing fact that would show how far the legal extension reaches into actual equipment.

Sources