What the Middle East’s leadership in U6GHz development means for operators globally

Details: Staff Writer; Category: Regulation; 22 October 2026; 2317 views

UAE regulator TDRA is helping the region to take the lead on upper 6GHz (U6GHz) development through regulatory frameworks. In November 2024, TDRA updated the UAE’s National Frequency Plan, emphasising the key role that U6GHz can play in International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT).

This stance has been echoed by industry bodies such as the GSMA, which has advised governments and regulators to make the full U6GHz band available for macro-cell mobile use. With its ultra-wide bandwidth and low-latency characteristics, U6GHz can help meet the growing connectivity demands driven by AI, 5G-Advanced and eventually 6G.

China, Europe and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are among many regions worldwide that have expressed support for using the upper 6GHz band for IMT. At the same time, commercialisation of the band is moving forward. U6GHz spectrum has been allocated in the UAE, Hong Kong and Macao, while mainland China, Europe, and many emerging markets are preparing their own allocation processes.

The ecosystem around U6GHz is therefore rapidly forming; customer premises equipment already has been deployed, while in 2027 the technology is expected to expand into the device ecosystem through the launch of compatible flagship devices.

The UAE is a major driver of the push towards U6GHz, having conducted early verification of prototypes of the technology and then becoming the first country to allocate U6GHz spectrum to operators in 2024. This has helped to develop the ecosystem; it was the first market to commence commercial CPE testing which later expanded to Oman, Uzbekistan and China.

The country has also led the way in terms of U6GHz commercialisation, with operator Etisalat signing the world’s first U6GHz contract in June 2026. Just three months later, the operator announced the world’s first commercial U6GHz deployment.

TRDA’s U6GHz policy will have an impact beyond operators in the UAE, and indeed the Middle East region, by demonstrating the role of regulation in readying nascent technologies for commercial deployment. This requires a foundation of academic research and technical expertise, as well as coordination over spectrum identification and investment from the operator side.

Middle East advancing change

As Artificial Intelligence advances, the Middle East is preparing to lead the transformation. Across the GCC, operators are spearheading 5G-Advanced deployment, accelerating U6GHz adoption, and building highly resilient digital infrastructure. Backed by strong government support and its strategic geographic position linking Asia, Europe, and Africa, the region is not merely following the AI revolution - it is helping to define it. Powered by national digital strategies, hyperscale AI investments, and world-class digital infrastructure, the region is fast developing into a global hub for artificial intelligence.

Peng Yaping 1200x900

In her keynote speech, Huawei Carrier Business CMO Judy Peng highlighted that the emergence of the Agentic Internet is fundamentally reshaping the requirements for communication networks. Traditional networks, designed for the mobile internet era, are no longer sufficient to support the demands of an AI-driven world.

Current mobile networks were built primarily to connect people. In contrast, Agent Internet networks must simultaneously connect people, things, and billions of AI agents collaborating and interacting in real time. This shift is driving four fundamental transformations in communication networks:

Connected entities are expanding from people and things to people, things, and AI agents; Network architecture is evolving from traffic-centric optimization to integrated computing-network orchestration; Traffic patterns are shifting from predominantly downlink, north-south flows to AI-driven, uplink-intensive east-west interactions; User expectations are advancing from best-effort connectivity to deterministic, end-to-end experience assurance.

This evolution is particularly significant for the Middle East, where ultra-large-scale AI campuses and digital economy initiatives are accelerating the demand for resilient, high-performance computing and network infrastructure to strengthen national competitiveness.

To address the requirements of the Agent Internet era, the industry must build a new generation of AI-Centric Networks. Through continuous advancements in network technologies, capabilities, and architectures, mobile broadband (MBB), fixed broadband (FBB), and bearer networks will enable ubiquitous agent connectivity and seamless interconnection of computing resources, establishing the foundation for future communications infrastructure.

Among these innovations, U6GHz will play a pivotal role in MBB networks. With its ultra-wide bandwidth and low-latency characteristics, U6GHz is well positioned to support the explosive growth of Mobile AI services and unlock the next wave of intelligent connectivity.

AI-Centric Networks

The industry is advancing toward an AI-centric MBB architecture built around experience assurance, deterministic performance, and native AI integration. The end goal is a unified, AI-native infrastructure that supports future experience-driven and token-driven business models. Middle East operators are partnering with Huawei to build AI-centric mobile broadband networks, combining 5G-Advanced, RAN Agent intelligence, and U6GHz innovations.

Led by the TDRA, etisalat, and du, the region has launched the world’s first commercial U6GHz ecosystem and pioneering 25 Gbps backhaul, advancing the vision of a 10 Giga intelligent nation and paving the way for future 6G evolution. For operators, U6GHz can have an immediate impact in terms of fixed wireless access (FWA), as the technology can help deliver connectivity speeds comparable to fibre with significantly shorter deployment times, particularly in areas where fibre deployment is challenging or not economically viable.

Beyond FWA, U6GHz offers further opportunities to support emerging Mobile AI services. Its ultra-wide bandwidth and low-latency characteristics can enable high-concurrency connectivity and responsive, real-time interactions required by increasingly diverse AI-driven applications. Innovations such as RetinaMIMO also support co-site deployment with existing C-band infrastructure, allowing operators to leverage established macro sites and existing network assets. Together, these capabilities can help operators deliver the high-performance connectivity needed to support the next generation of Mobile AI experiences.

Home Broadband

AI is also reshaping requirements for home broadband, where services have traditionally relied on best-effort connectivity. This will no longer be sufficient for home-based AI assistants, intelligent companions, immersive applications, cloud gaming, and autonomous smart home services – all of which will require deterministic service experiences.

Middle East operators are working with Huawei to deploy AI-centric broadband networks based on the vendor’s Next-Generation FAN solution. Combining AI and all-optical technologies, the solution delivers intelligent connectivity, service assurance, and automated O&M, while supporting Wi-Fi 7 and differentiated SLA-based services. Operators such as STC Bahrain are also partnering with Huawei under EVOLVE 2.0 to accelerate network intelligence and autonomous operations.

Bearer Networks

AI is also impacting bearer infrastructure. Data centres are becoming critical national and economic digital infrastructure, with data centre infrastructure projected to expand almost fourfold, from around 40 gigawatts in 2023 to 150 gigawatts by 2030, while traffic between data centres is projected to increase fivefold over the next three years.

This underlines the need for AI-centric bearer networks that place data centres at the core of network planning. Built around four defining capabilities – all-optical connectivity, ultra-low latency, ultra-high resilience, and zero data loss – these networks will deliver millisecond-level computing access and lossless wide-area transmission, providing a secure and resilient network foundation to support the growth of AI data centres and intelligent services.

Conclusion

AI is evolving from a productivity tool into a foundational economic force. As billions of intelligent agents come into play, operators face a historic opportunity to move beyond pure connectivity and become providers of intelligent experiences, computing power, and AI services.

To seize this opportunity, the industry must build AI-centric, resilient communication networks spanning mobile, fixed, and bearer network domains. Uniting connectivity, computing power, intelligence, and resilience will lay the groundwork for the Agentic Internet and unlock the next wave of growth for operators, vertical industries, and society at large.