Supporting ACMA and Accelerating Regulatory Clarity
Perhaps the most significant dimension of this partnership is its direct contribution to Australia’s regulatory process. ACMA released a formal Discussion Paper on AFC-assisted spectrum sharing in the 6 GHz band in late 2025, and the WISPAU trial is explicitly referenced within it as one of the primary sources of operational evidence informing the authority’s thinking. This is not a passive relationship — WISPAU provides ACMA with reports drawn directly from trial operations, including interference incidents, channel assignment outcomes, geolocation accuracy data and device performance metrics.
This data stream is obviously invaluable to a regulator navigating genuinely complex decisions. ACMA must determine whether to authorise AFC use via individual apparatus licences or area-based class licences, how to define the roles of government versus industry in operating AFC databases, what technical requirements to impose on AFC systems — including data integrity standards and geolocation accuracy thresholds — and whether the existing Register of Radiocommunications Licences (RRL) is adequate to serve as the incumbent database or requires enhancement. The WISPAU / Cambium / Qualcomm trial provides answers to these questions, grounded in local spectrum conditions, local network topologies and Australian WISP operating realities.
Without this evidence base, ACMA would be reliant entirely on international precedents that, while informative, do not fully translate to Australia’s unique geography and licensing environment. The trial will help accelerate the regulator’s path to a licensing determination by eliminating the need for hypothetical modelling and replacing it with measured outcomes from real networks operating in real Australian communities.
Impact on Fixed Wireless
The stakes are high. If the ACMA moves to authorise AFC-enabled standard-power operations in the 6 GHz band, Australian WISPs will gain access to a transformative high-capacity spectrum. For communities currently served by congested 5 GHz networks, AFC-enabled 6 GHz fixed wireless represents a near-fibre broadband speed experience delivered wirelessly, at a fraction of the infrastructure cost and deployment timeline.
This partnership operating in Australian conditions, reporting transparently to Australia’s spectrum regulator, is precisely the kind of initiative that moves an entire industry forward. It is collaborative and no single participant could achieve this outcome alone. Together, WISPAU, Cambium Networks and Qualcomm have built the evidentiary and technical foundation that will determine whether Australia’s fixed wireless sector can deliver on its potential for the millions of Australians who depend on it.
This is not simply a pilot project. It is the beginning of a new era for fixed wireless in Australia driven by the instigation of the AFC trial by WISPAU, Cambium and Qualcomm.
