The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing major telecom companies like Reliance Jio, Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, has urged the government to prohibit the sale of WiFi 6E routers. These routers use the 6 GHz spectrum band for data transmission, a frequency range still pending government approval for such usage. COAI alleges that these routers are being unlawfully sold on e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Moglix, as well as by offline vendors.
In a letter to the Department of Telecom dated April 15, COAI emphasized that the sale of equipment operating in the 6 GHz band, without government authorization, is illegal and should be immediately halted. The association’s Director General, SP Kochhar, stressed that as the government hasn’t finalized its policy regarding the utilization of the 6 GHz band, any sales of WiFi 6E products utilizing this spectrum are unauthorized and could lead to illegal transmissions within the country.
COAI provided a list of sample links for WiFi routers from brands like TP-Link and Google, operating in the 6 GHz band, which were being sold online. Queries to Amazon, Flipkart, Moglix, and Google regarding the sale of these routers remained unanswered initially, although Moglix removed the product after being informed about the query.
Kochhar highlighted that the sale of such WiFi devices could potentially make consumers liable for unauthorized transmissions, shifting the responsibility away from the actual offenders. COAI urged the Department of Telecom to intervene promptly and implement a complete ban on the sale of WiFi products operating in the 6 GHz band, both online and offline, through appropriate notifications to sellers nationwide.
