By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
Modern cruise liners are akin to floating cities populated by thousands of passengers and crew – but thus far, 6 GHz Wi-Fi has been off limits for ships. This is now likely to change as the FCC is proposing to permit low power indoor 6 GHz Wi-Fi operations on cruise liners. Cisco is assisting the FCC in verifying that cruise ship 6 GHz Wi-Fi will not interfere with incumbent users of the band neither in port nor at sea, the company says.
The US cruise industry is expected to serve some 26 million passengers this year, generating more than US$25 billion in annual revenues while supporting a whopping 290,000 jobs. Cruise holidays are more popular than ever and like everyone else, cruise passengers expect excellent connectivity. Now it appears that onboard Wi-Fi is on track to receive a significant boost in both quality and speed.
FCC earlier this month proposed introducing a new rule that would allow 6 GHz Wi-Fi to be deployed and operated on cruise ships (see the full FCC document here). Cisco first approached the cruise industry with the idea in January of 2024 and since then the company has been working with the FCC to affect the rule change, which when implemented should rescue passengers from suffering through below average Wi-Fi services. Now significant progress is being made, Cisco says.
“The FCC is recognising what passengers and crew have long experienced: Onboard connectivity often falls short of modern expectations. This welcome step begins the process of updating legacy rules that constrain network performance and opens the door to faster, more reliable internet at sea,” says Bill Davenport, Cisco’s Senior Director of Connectivity & Technology Policy.
Distinguished Engineer at Cisco Matt Swartz says it is highly unlikely that indoor 6 GHz cruise Wi-Fi will interfere with incumbent satellite services or microwave links. “Cruise liners can have as many APs as stadiums, sometimes more. Even an installed base of 4,000 APs is not uncommon for a single ship. Fortunately, most ship deployments have now moved APs into individual cabins, which means that Wi-Fi signals are well contained within the ship’s heavy steel and reinforced glass structure. We’re now working with the cruise industry to test and verify that there’s no risk of interference with incumbent services when using 6 GHz Wi-Fi at LPI levels within the ship,” he says.
A significant driver for better Wi-Fi on ships has been the recent advent of more robust and much faster satellite backhaul services at sea. While in-cabin Wi-Fi is mostly well taken care of by existing 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz systems, Matt Swartz expects 6 GHz to make a big difference for connectivity speed and quality within the ship’s common areas including – for example – the ship’s entertainment venues, which are often packed with passengers.
“A packed cruise ship is an extreme high density environment with thousands of devices competing for the same spectrum within a small area, which is similar to what goes on in a stadium or other large public venue. As soon as we’re permitted by the FCC to go ahead, we’re looking forward to leveraging our high-density 6 GHz Wi-Fi expertise to boost the onboard connectivity experience for passengers and crew. No question that 6 GHz Wi-Fi will make a significant quality and speed difference,” Matt Swartz says.
In addition to Internet access and communications for passengers and crew, onboard Wi-Fi is also used for ship operations, messaging, and safety procedures. A person familiar with the matter says the FCC is likely to make a positive decision on the issue within a year.
/Claus.
