While the range is essential to make up for mid-bands constraints for mobile networks, Wi-Fi future demand could be met with more efficient use of existing unlicensed bands.
3 September 2025, Brasilia: The GSMA today released its new report ‘6 GHz in LATAM’, highlighting the crucial role of the upper 6 GHz band in unlocking the benefits of 5G and eventually 6G across the region. The study, based on a mobile and Wi-Fi traffic analysis in 11 Latin American cities, shows that mobile networks are far more likely than Wi-Fi to face capacity constraints through to 2035, making additional spectrum essential to enhance network performance and deliver broader economic value.
Data gathered by Ookla shows that all studied cities have almost no connections in the lower 6 GHz band using Wi-Fi 6E, leaving the range open to the future evolution of Wi-Fi technology. There is also scope for more efficient use of Wi-Fi spectrum as today Latin America relies on older Wi-Fi technologies, with 21-57% of Wi-Fi usage on Wi-Fi 4 and 43-57% on Wi-Fi 5. By upgrading to the more spectrally efficient Wi-Fi 6 technology (only 4-22% of scans today), existing unlicensed bands –2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and lower 6 GHz– are sufficient to handle future Wi-Fi demand.
On the other hand, data shows that mobile use in the region is largely delivered over mid-band spectrum, with 84% of indoor connectivity provided by bands in this range and 71% of urban indoor 5G use provided by 3.5 GHz. Mobile networks will need an average of 2 GHz of mid-band spectrum per country by 2030 and, in most markets, even using all currently available mid-band spectrum, this demand cannot be met without 6 GHz. Unlocking the full upper 6 GHz for mobile is essential to support the expected 3.5x increase in regional data traffic by 2030, enable the 5G speeds defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and provide the wider channel sizes (200–400 MHz) required for 6G-era services and applications.
“The 6 GHz band is the largest remaining block of mid-band spectrum; its use should be determined by the technology that needs it most. Efficiency is the name of the game. Making the full upper 6 GHz available for mobile services, without additional power restrictions or sharing mechanisms, is essential for Latin America’s digital development,” said Lucas Gallitto, Head of Latin America, GSMA.
The report ‘6 GHz in LATAM: Mobile Evolution in 6.425–7.125 GHz’, featuring disaggregated data for Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Guatemala City, Lima, Mexico City, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, Santo Domingo, São Paulo, and Brasília, is available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese here.
Media contact
Florencia Bianco
fbianco@gsma.com