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If you think 5G is fast, wait till you see 6G. But you will have to wait. Why? Because next-gen 6G mobile networks are at least five years away. But in 2025, the industry will start laying the foundations. Let’s explore what lies ahead for this new era of communications technology…

In any discussion of 6G mobile network technology, there is excitement about its potential to send data at unprecedented speeds. How much faster could 6G be than 5G? As much as 100 times? 

How about 9000 times? 

Last November, New Scientist reported that researchers at University College London had sent data at 938 gigabits per second across a lab-built 6G network. That’s more than 9000 times the average speed of a current 5G phone connection. At these speeds, a user would be able to download more than 20 movies a second. 

Of course, this work remains experimental for now. In this case, the researchers used a lab-created network based on a wide range of frequencies from 5 gigahertz to 150 gigahertz. Other researchers are developing alternative techniques.

But what the University College example does show is that 6G network-building is now under way. So let's review 6G technology and what fresh developments we might see this year.
 

What is 6G?

Mobile network technology moves in generations that last around 10 years. Thus, 1G launched in the 1980s – and now we are half way through the lifetime of 5G, which launched in 2019. 

Obviously, 6G refers to the sixth generation of wireless technology. Like each iteration before it, 6G is expected to deliver significant new performance levels –speeds of up to 1 terabit per second and latency below 1 millisecond.

Engineers want 6G networks to be energy-efficient too so they can support ‘zero energy’ devices that harvest energy from the sun – or even skin chemistry.  
 

What is the current state of 6G development?

At present, there are no agreed 6G standards. Instead, 6G is entering what the industry calls the 'pre-standardisation' phase. The bodies responsible for defining 6G are the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) – an umbrella term for a number of standards organisations that develop protocols for mobile telecommunications – and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

In December 2023 the ITU published its framework for 6G (which is also called IMT-2030) technical standards. Later, in March 2024, the 3GPP published a timeline for 6G development. 

•    2024 to 2026 – defining 6G technical performance requirements 
•    2027 to 2028 - developing 6G technology specifications in 'Release 21'
•    2028 to 2029 - 3GPP to submit self-evaluations of 6G to ITU 
•    From 2030 - commercial 6G deployments 

One of the big decisions to be made is around spectrum. With every new generation, network engineers seek out radio spectrum wide enough to support exploding demand for data and capacity. Most 5G connections transmit data in carrier frequencies below 6 GHz. But these transmission bands are congested, which reduces speeds.

In December 2024, 3GPP decided that a channel bandwidth of 200 MHz should be considered for 6G. It also suggested a carrier frequency of 7 GHz. The challenge is availability since many federal agencies use these higher frequencies for defence purposes.
 

6G: the first ‘AI-native’ mobile network?

The creation of standalone 5G technology saw mobile networks become cloud-native and software-defined. 6G will build on this. As a result, it will rely more heavily on computation than any previous cellular generation.

For this reason, 6G is expected to be the first AI-native network, where artificial intelligence is embedded in the networking equipment itself. Machine learning systems will analyse vast amounts of data, identifying patterns, allocating resources, mitigating interference, and enhancing security measures. This will enable the network to be efficient, self-repairing and autonomous.

In an article in the MIT Technology Review, Qin Fei, president of the communications research institute at handset OEM Vivo, said: “When we are designing the 6G network, we're going to use AI technology in designing the air interface and also in managing the 6G network… the 6G network will self-train, self-learn, and it will actually grow like a student to become more and more powerful.”

What are the potential use cases of 6G?

As a super-fast, AI-native network tech, 6G will power a range of exciting new use cases. Specifically, it is expected to speed up the arrival of next-generation industrial processes – also known as Industry 4.0.

The fourth industrial revolution will enable companies to use AI and connected devices to power smart factories and sites. Here, machines will communicate with each other to perform real-time monitoring and decision-making. Experts say the result will be unprecedented improvements in productivity using innovations such as:

Collaborative Robots. The vision here is that low latency 6G connections will be used to connect robots that will work in groups to perform dangerous and complex tasks. The obvious applications are in manufacturing and defence. 

Physical Awareness. Here, developers will create applications that use the network to tranmit 3D situational data relating to the environment. This should power a new and richer form of the Internet of Things.

Digital Twins. Obviously, digital twins already exist to simulate real world objects in digital form. It can help in the prototyping phase with 3D models depicting the system's shape and structure. 6G should supercharge the concept with new levels of detail and connectedness. This will have profound consequences in industrial automation, smart maintenance and construction.

Fully Connected World. If 6G extends connectivity into even the most remote corner of the planet, this will open up exciting IoT use cases in crisis management, environmental monitoring, digital health, autonomous supply chains and more.

Of course, there will be many more 6G use cases beyond the smart factory. Its speed and latency improvements should make virtual environments even more intense and immersive. This could drive new forms of gaming and education.

6G networks’ low power consumption could also drive intriguing new services. Researchers are already working on how this property could connect humans and machines more closely.

For example, in late 2023, NTT docomo revealed a haptic device that "detects a person's sensory state... and physically reproduces the same state in another person." It says the 6G-enabled tech could "make it possible to share sensations that conventionally have been difficult, if not impossible, to convey through images, sound, text or words alone."
 

Which organisations are driving the development of 6G?

Governments, academia, and telecom giants are now forming alliances to define 6G standards and drive innovation. As mentioned above, the ITU and the 3GPP are leading this effort by inviting suggestions from various stakeholders. 

So who are these stakeholders? They comprise a range of participants located all over the world. Projects include:

•    6G-XCEL. This is a joint undertaking by the EU and the US National Science Foundation (NSF).
•    Hexa-X-II. A European project dedicated to desgning “a system blueprint aiming at the sustainable, inclusive, and trustworthy 6G platform.”
•    The Next G Alliance. A US scheme to promote a vibrant marketplace for 6G in North America.
•    6G Flagship. A Finnish government 6G research program, run out of Oulu University 
•    IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group. This is China's 6G coordination body, overseen by the China Communications Standards Association. 
•    South Korean 6G initiative. South Korea's science ministry has pledged $324.5 million to develop homegrown 6G technologies in line with the international requirements.
•    Japanese consortium. A collaborative effort by DOCOMO, NTT, NEC and Fujitsu has already developed a prototype device that achieved speeds of 100 Gbps.

The 6G future is on the way

In 2025, millions of consumers will move on to 5G for the first time. They will be delighted with their speedy new connections. But already, in the background, industry scientists are building thew next era of mobile comms.

As we have discussed, 6G promises a world in which machines understand their environments, consumers gather and transmit sensory information, and families of robots ‘talk’ to each other while performing complex tasks.

It’s an exciting vision. And it’s closer than you think.