Saudi Arabia and Wi-Fi 6E 05 July 2021 | Melanie Mingas After releasing 23 GHz of spectrum for unlicensed use, Saudi Arabia has become the first country in the MEA to pave the way for Wi-Fi 6E. Melanie Mingas speaks to Hassan Eltom, technical account manager at Ookla In March, Saudi Arabia’s regulator, the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), announced it would release more than 23 GHz of spectrum for “innovative and commercial use”. Part of its three-year spectrum outlook, the move made the country the first in the Middle East, Africa and Europe to designate all 1200 MHz of the 6 GHz band for unlicensed use – i.e. Wi-Fi 6E. Of this, CITC said 4 GHz would be licensed, more than 13 GHz lightly licensed, and 6.2 GHz would be licence-exempt.