The FCC's plans to open up the 6 GHz and 5.9 GHz bands for unlicensed WiFi would add at least $183.44 billion to the U.S. economy over the next five years. 

That is according to a new study released and funded by WiFi Forward, whose members include cable broadband providers and computer and tech companies.  

Both FCC spectrum efforts are part of the larger push for more spectrum for 5G wireless broadband.

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An economic boost is obviously more important than ever given the pandemic-driven shutdown and its economic aftermath. 

The study, from Dr. Paul Katz, director of business strategy research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information and president of Telecom Advisory Services, finds that sharing those bands between licensed and unlicensed users would add $106 billion to the GDP by increasing broadband speeds and thus accelerating the Internet of Things and the augmented reality/virtual (AR/VR) reality market.  

Finally it predicts another $8 billion in "consumer surplus" thanks to broadband speed increases.

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Another $69 billion would come in savings on enterprise wireless traffic and sales of WiFi and AR/VR equipment. 

The FCC is proposing freeing up the lower 45 MHz of the 5.9 GHz band for unlicensed use, reserving the rest for vehicle-to-vehicle communications services that has previously had the whole 75 MHz. It is also considering how to free up spectrum in the 6 GHz band to share with utility companies and broadcasters and other incumbent users.