Last week, WiFiForward held a special event with the Wi-Fi Alliance in collaboration with the Congressional Wi-Fi Caucus. At this webinar, members of congress as well as policy and industry experts convened to discuss how Wi-Fi 6 and Wi-Fi 6E technologies can create a brighter future for connectivity.

Two members of the Congressional Wi-Fi Caucus kicked off the webinar, with Wi-Fi Caucus co-chairs Rep. Bob Latta (OH-05) and Rep. Jerry McNerney (CA-09) providing opening remarks on the caucus and the current state of Wi-Fi 6/6E innovation. 

Rep. Latta spoke about how vital Wi-Fi (and more specifically Wi-Fi 6E) has been to keeping people online throughout the pandemic, calling Wi-Fi a “driver of the economy” and reminding the audience that Wi-Fi is an essential service. Rep. McNerney echoed many of his colleague’s points and highlighted specifically the importance of the FCC’s decision last year to open the 6 GHz band to Wi-Fi. 

Following the remarks by each elected official, we heard from a number of experts from the private sector and third-party groups. Public Knowledge’s Kathleen Burke spoke about the importance of utilizing unlicensed spectrum, saying “if you’re going to talk about Wi-Fi, you have to talk about unlicensed spectrum as well.”

The Wi-Fi Alliance’s Kevin Robinson focused on how quickly Wi-Fi 6E technology has hit the market. He said the “Wi-Fi 6E represents a tremendous opportunity in the 6 GHz band” and noted that over 3 million Wi-Fi 6E devices are expected to ship this year. Broadcom’s Chris Szymanski also spoke on the speed to market and noted that Broadcom, in particular, “is very excited about the promise of this technology.”

To watch the webinar in full and hear additional remarks from ICLE’s Kristian Stout, Extreme Networks’ David Coleman and Airties’ Scott Stinson, follow this link.