Senate GOP Budget Bill Has Little-Noticed Provision That Could Hurt Your Wi-Fi (arstechnica.com)
- Reference: 0178237632
- News link: https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/25/06/30/2011219/senate-gop-budget-bill-has-little-noticed-provision-that-could-hurt-your-wi-fi
- Source link: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/senate-gop-budget-bill-has-little-noticed-provision-that-could-hurt-your-wi-fi/
> Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has a plan for spectrum auctions that [1]could take frequencies away from Wi-Fi and reallocate them for the exclusive use of wireless carriers. The plan would benefit AT&T, which is based in Cruz's home state, along with Verizon and T-Mobile.
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> Cruz's proposal revives a years-old controversy over whether the entire 6 GHz band should be devoted to Wi-Fi, which can use the large spectrum band for faster speeds than networks that rely solely on the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. Congress is on the verge of passing legislation that would require spectrum to be auctioned off for full-power, commercially licensed use, and the question is where that spectrum will come from.
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> When the House of Representatives passed its so-called "One Big Beautiful Bill," it excluded all of the frequencies between 5.925 and 7.125 gigahertz from the planned spectrum auctions. But Cruz's version of the budget reconciliation bill, which is moving quickly toward a final vote, removed the 6 GHz band's protection from spectrum auctions. The Cruz bill is also controversial because it would penalize states that regulate artificial intelligence.
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> Instead of excluding the 6 GHz band from auctions, Cruz's bill would instead exclude the 7.4-8.4 GHz band used by the military. Under conditions set by the bill, it could be hard for the Commerce Department and Federal Communications Commission to fulfill the Congressional mandate without taking some spectrum away from Wi-Fi.
[1] https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/senate-gop-budget-bill-has-little-noticed-provision-that-could-hurt-your-wi-fi/
Existing equiment? (Score:2)
What about existing equipment? Will it be banned? Or will it just interfere the mobile carriers' use of the spectrum?
Where's the budget to compensate owners for this "taking" if the equipment is banned?
Re: (Score:2)
> What about existing equipment?
You'd think Broadcom et al. would pitch a fit given the billions they've spent developing Wi-Fi standards that include 6 GHz, developing 6 GHz devices, etc. It's not just owners of existing equipment. It's an entire industry that has been investing in 6 GHz Wi-Fi for years now.
Re: (Score:2)
>> What about existing equipment?
> You'd think Broadcom et al. would pitch a fit given the billions they've spent developing Wi-Fi standards that include 6 GHz, developing 6 GHz devices, etc. It's not just owners of existing equipment. It's an entire industry that has been investing in 6 GHz Wi-Fi for years now.
But think of the profit potential when they have to sell us all new WIFI equipment! Maybe they can convert a segment of ICE into broadband support agents. Door-to-door with new devices in hand. "Pay to switch or be sent to El Salvador!"
I'm meant to be joking, and then I realize which timeline I'm living in and am more hoping that I'm joking.
Let the Breakup Begin (Score:3)
> Cruz's version of the budget reconciliation bill, which is moving quickly toward a final vote, removed the 6 GHz band's protection from spectrum auctions. The Cruz bill is also controversial because it would penalize states that regulate artificial intelligence.
Increasingly I'm thinking of the country to the immediate south of me as the Divided States of America. The administration's clear favouritism toward the oligarchy, and its penalizing of states which try to hold the corporate sector accountable, are further dividing a country already torn along ideological, class, and income boundaries.
I alternate between anger and sadness, even as I hope America gives its collective head a shake and emerges from the dark place it's fallen into.
Shouldn't the Senate parlitarian (Score:2)
Shut this down as not budget related? Then again there are literally hundreds of things to Republican party stuffed in that bill that aren't related to the budget so some things are bound to slip through.
Somehow I don't think 1 trillion dollars of Medicaid cuts should be included in a budget bill. That should be considered way too significant a policy change since it basically shuts down medicaid...
In other news 1 trillion dollars of government spending is on track to exit the economy. That's going
Re: (Score:2)
Being that he is proposing *selling* the spectrum to the highest bidder(s), it's a grey area as we are talking about government revenue. Trump has praised the 6GHz spectrum for WiFi in the past as well, so I don't think this will go far.
As for government spending propping up the economy, it's not like the money disappears from the market. If anything, cutting $1trillion from the budget outright would possibly lead to a stronger dollar due to the government printing less money. But we all know our government
Re: (Score:2)
> Being that he is proposing *selling* the spectrum to the highest bidder(s), it's a grey area as we are talking about government revenue. Trump has praised the 6GHz spectrum for WiFi in the past as well, so I don't think this will go far.
> As for government spending propping up the economy, it's not like the money disappears from the market. If anything, cutting $1trillion from the budget outright would possibly lead to a stronger dollar due to the government printing less money. But we all know our government has no incentive to stop wasting money, so I wouldn't count on anything to change until it all catastrophically fails.
Any government spending cuts right now are most likely earmarked to be tax cuts for the 1% and up club.
Fuck his pronouns (Score:3)
Rafael Edward Cruz is his real name.
KILL BILL (Score:2)
There is a lot more than WI-FI to worry about in this bill. If you have a republican senator, it is time to contact them to kill this bill. Why? Even assuming you are republican here is why: it increases the deficit, earning Musk's ire: [1]https://www.northjersey.com/st... [northjersey.com]
Low blow to cut taxes for the rich while tariffs amount to a tax increase on the middleclass.
Does anyone you know use Medicaid? They soon might not use Medicaid: [2]https://arstechnica.com/health... [arstechnica.com]
That trillion for defense? don't need it, N
[1] https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2025/06/05/elon-musk-kill-the-bill-whats-in-trumps-cbo-big-beautiful-bill-explained-trump-response-to-musk-why/84045941007/
[2] https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/06/nearly-12-million-people-would-lose-health-insurance-under-senate-gop-bill/
I feel sorry for the people in the USoA Using wifi (Score:2)
but anything that brings the USoA more in line with the frequency usage in the rest of the world is welcome. You guys go at your own beat, and drag canada, mexico and a fe2w other allies with you, while the rest of the world heeds standars...
Now going back to my channel 13 40Mhz wifi (with higher 5Ghz 120Mhz channel too)
Re: (Score:2)
Now going back to my channel 13 40Mhz wifi (with higher 5Ghz 120Mhz channel too)
Dude, keep fighting the power!