It’s important to understand what 6G is and how it varies from 5G before diving into the trends. 6G networks seek to push those limits even farther, offering gigabit speeds, low latency, and vast data capacity in contrast to 5G networks. Experts estimate that 6G will be a hundred times more powerful than 5G, with microsecond latency and terabit-level speed possible.

The global 6G market is expected to grow during the forecast period 2024–2035, according to TechSci Research’s “6G Market – Global Industry Size, Share, Trends, Opportunity, and Forecast, 2018–2035, Segmented By Component (Hardware, Software, and Services), By Communication Infrastructure (Wireless, Fixed), By Application (Multisensory XR Applications, Connected Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CRAS), Wireless Brain-Computer Interactions (BCI), Digital Twins, Smart Cities, Internet of Everything (IoE), Blockchain and DLT, and Others), By End User (Government, Consumer, Industrial, and Enterprise), By Region.”

The growing need for 6G communication across several industries and the emphasis on low-latency networks for applications are driving the market’s rise. Even if 6G deployment is still in the works, the market seems to be very competitive.

Because of significant expenditures and research into enabling efficient transmission of 6G data over longer distances, the industry displays fragmentation despite the small number of 6G technology and service providers now available. Radio and baseband, network disaggregation, computable topology, machine learning, multimedia, and display are a few of the important technology pillars for the next 6G platforms.

Discovering the Potential of 6G is a wireless technology that will be able to do more than 5G. Sixth-generation (6G) networks will have far larger capacity and lower latency due to their ability to operate at higher frequencies. Enabling communication with a latency as low as one microsecond is one of 6G’s primary goals.

This corresponds to a throughput of one millisecond at present, but 1,000 times faster, or 1/1000th the latency, than that. This enormous advancement in latency reduction has significant ramifications for a wide range of applications, including real-time gaming and immersive virtual reality, as well as driverless cars and highly sensitive remote control systems. Additionally, the increased capacity of 6G networks will make it possible to seamlessly integrate Internet of Things (IoT) devices, smart infrastructure, and sophisticated industrial automation systems, supporting a growing ecosystem of connected devices.

Experts estimate that 6G will offer 1 terabyte of data per second at peak speeds, which is a significant improvement over 5G. This technological quantum leap would enable new applications like high-fidelity mobile holograms, truly immersive extended reality, and the seamless fusion of the digital and physical worlds, in addition to speeding up data-driven technologies like artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT).

The Sixth Generation Marathon Leaders

As of right now, no nation can claim to have a completely functional 6G network. Still, a lot of countries are spending money on R&D to be the first with this ground-breaking technology. China is in the lead in this competition.

The country has advanced in telecommunications and plans to lead 6G technologies. China launched a satellite to test terahertz signal transmission, a step toward 6G. China wants to lead the new mobile internet with official support and investment. In addition to its rapid R&D, China has IT giants like Huawei and ZTE that manufacture advanced wireless infrastructure and devices.

China leads, but other nations are following. South Korea, a pioneer in 5G, is also researching 6G. The South Korean government has invested much in 6G technology to commercialise it by 2028.

China promotes 6G international collaboration with an open approach to telecommunications. This contrasts with the US tech blockade, which disrupted global supply lines. Future 6G will connect people, robots, and the meta-universe. Additionally, it will improve 5G application situations.

South Korea, known for its rapid 5G adoption, is a strong 6G candidate. Samsung and LG have begun 6G preparations. The government’s intentions to invest USD200 million in 6G research and development over the next decade demonstrate its commitment.

South Korea’s scientific ministry, which allocates frequency ranges, has designated its proposed 6G communication frequency bands as global standard contenders. At the ITU-hosted World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), the country’s three frequency ranges outnumbered other nations’ 23 spectrums.

South Korea started its research later than China or the United States, but it still plans to launch 6G technology in 2026, three years ahead of China.

The United States has always led technical innovation, and 6G is no exception. Research and development have begun at major American IT corporations and universities. The FCC has declared “terahertz” wave bands experimental, allowing 6G testing. AT&T, Verizon, and the Next G Alliance are shaping 6G, which could make mobile internet and cloud computing global.

US politicians should encourage government agencies to allocate more spectrum for cellular innovation. Higher charges for idle spectrum and better spectrum use incentives can achieve this. The Department of Defence, the largest spectrum user in the country, should work with the FCC and NTIA to assess its spectrum use and develop a spectrum release strategy.

Europe isn’t idle either. Large-scale European Union (EU) initiatives like Horizon Europe promote innovation and research. Nokia, based in Finland, is driving 6G development with its involvement in the Hexa-X project, the European flagship for 6G research. EU programmes like Horizon Europe and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) fund collaborative research initiatives, promote academia-industry-government cooperation, and advance 6G technology and standards.

In 2020, the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance received government funding for 6G research in Germany. In 2020, Surrey University (UK) opened a 6G Innovation Centre outside the EU. Additionally, Russia’s Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology introduced a gadget that could develop 6G components.

Japan is another important competitor that has strong technology and innovation. Japan began 6G research in 2020, a little late. However, the nation aims to launch next-generation mobile data technologies by 2030. Like South Korea, the government has allotted a USD 9.6 billion development fund for future technologies like 6G. National industry leaders including NTT DoCoMo and Toshiba and university institutions form the Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium to push 6G. The Japanese government also plans to fund 6G technology research.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan plans to change Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) rules to push 6G technology. The goal is to provide NTT with the flexibility and autonomy to accelerate its research and development in this field and remove legislative hurdles that hinder its worldwide competitiveness.

The global race for 6G technology is well underway, with many countries investing heavily in research and development to be at the forefront of this next-generation wireless technology. While no nation has a fully functional 6G network at present, several countries are making significant strides in this area.

As the global competition for 6G technology continues, it’s clear that the future of wireless communications will be shaped by the advancements and breakthroughs in this area, ultimately benefiting industries, consumers, and societies worldwide.

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The 6G technology has the potential to achieve previously unheard-of data speeds, extremely low latency, improved reliability, and ubiquitous connectivity. With these capabilities, it could open up a wide range of previously unthinkable applications. The introduction of 6G networks is anticipated to completely transform industries, economies, and society at large by enabling the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem and enabling the smooth integration of AI and immersive technologies.

As per a report published by the 5G Infrastructure Association, 6G technology is expected to introduce a near-instant and unrestricted complete wireless connectivity, which will significantly transform the way businesses function. And if forecasts come true, this game-changing technology might exist by the start of the following ten years.

Ericsson CEO Borje Ekholm said, “Future networks will be a fundamental component for the functioning of virtually all parts of life, society, and industries, fulfilling the communication needs of humans as well as intelligent machines. As accelerating automation and digitalisation continue to simplify people’s lives, the emerging cyber-physical continuum will continuously improve efficiency and ensure the sustainable use of resources.”

“The vision for 6G is built on the desire to create a seamless reality where the digital and physical worlds as we know them today have merged. This merged reality of the future will provide new ways of meeting and interacting with other people, new possibilities to work from anywhere and new ways to experience faraway places and cultures,” Ekholm added.

6G is ready to deliver the hype

Even though 5G networks have improved latency and speed, 6G is poised to take these advancements to unprecedented levels.

Donald Butts, InterDigital’s Senior Director of Technology Strategy, said, “While we have seen early adoption of 5G for practical virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) applications, 5G has not been able to deliver on the early hype due to myriad factors like costs, chip shortages, and politics. As a result, we’ve seen lacklustre adoption across both consumer and industry sectors despite there being a lot of work done in developing services and bringing them to market.”

Although 5G isn’t able to provide fully immersive experiences, Butts explains that 5G has set the stage for 6G to expand on and make these opportunities possible.

“While 5G provides data transfer rates that are far superior to previous generations, it still falls short of the conditions required to support immersive experiences. Extended reality (XR) and full immersive experiences require data transfer rates of 200Mbps to 5Gbps – far beyond what is currently possible with 5G. 6G, however, certainly holds promise in this regard, because it will utilise higher frequency bands and is said to provide speeds up to 100 times faster than 5G. This will be crucial to providing immersive experiences ‘on the go’, which may aid in its widespread adoption,” Butts added.

Going beyond communications

According to Victor Holmin, World Wide Technology’s Director of Portfolio and Consulting, 6G will mark a shift “beyond communications.”

“The network 6G will go beyond communications by creating a distributed neural network with the ability to integrate physical, biological and cyber systems. This will be done through establishing a bridge between cognitive computing, communications and sensing technologies. 6G will mark the beginning of a new era: the Internet of Behaviours and Intelligence of Everything,” Holmin explains.

The sensor network, increased connectivity speeds, and the latest wave of edge computing and AI-driven applications will open up a plethora of new intelligent industry use cases. If these predictions become a reality, the deployment of 6G has the potential to dramatically increase capabilities, across the full spectrum of global industries, including transforming the way that teams collaborate.

“Instead of spending hours on 2D Zoom or Teams meetings, we will meet in 3D digital spaces, where our avatars will have ‘real’ eye contact. We will be able to meet in groups and even express body language in real-time. If we need to hold a one-on-one meeting, we could simply switch all the participants out and find a quiet virtual space to connect. And if you want to visit a factory or try out a product, you could simply ‘fly’ or ‘teleport’ to a digital twin and experience it from there,” predicts technology blogger and influencer Bernard Marr.

Moreover, 6G will enable the virtual world more than in the past, according to Holmin.

“With 6G supporting virtual environments and haptic technology, the virtual world will be closer to the in-person experience than ever before. It could be possible to no longer need to spend time commuting to the office, as the office could virtually come to us in a matter of seconds through VR and AR applications. Virtual meetings would feel almost as real as in-person ones without us having to leave our homes,” Holmin noted.

Enabling the future of remote work

The introduction of 6G networks is expected to significantly alter remote work and how people and businesses interact and function. Employees working from remote will enter a new era of productivity, efficiency, and flexibility with access to advanced technologies, immersive collaboration, and improved connectivity. The distinction between physical and virtual workspaces will become less clear, allowing people and businesses to fully realise the benefits of remote work and transform the nature of work itself.

“The added capacity of 6G has the potential to give workers the ability to control and interact with industrial machinery in real-time from the safety of their home office. Haptic sensory suits, fuelled by the ease of quickly moving data across the network, could allow workers to maintain full control from the safety of a desk through a controller and headset while still communicating with colleagues,” Holmin comments.

The potential capabilities are so great that the so-called ‘Internet of Behavior’ would come to pass if we could develop brain-machine interface devices that allow for the real-time sharing of thoughts and sensations.

“With 6G, the network itself will no longer be a constraint but instead ensure that almost any use case can be easily deployed. With a network as flexible as 6G is set to be, service providers will need to be flexible themselves, working collaboratively across the telecoms ecosystem and with customers to deliver solutions,” Holmin said.

The cyber-physical continuum

The cyber-physical continuum, which connects the physical world of senses, actions, and experiences, and its programmable digital representation, will allow free movement between the two. This is made possible by 6G. In addition to the metaverse as it is commonly known, which is a virtual world where avatars interact in virtual reality and augmented reality, 6G’s cyber-physical continuum goes much farther, offering a much closer connection to reality.

The cyber-physical continuum will enable the seamless coexistence of digital and physical objects as merged reality, improving the real world by projecting digital objects onto digitally represented physical objects. In the future, networks will be essential to almost every aspect of life, society, and industry, serving both intelligent machines and humans’ communication needs. The growing cyber-physical continuum will continuously increase efficiency and guarantee the sustainable use of resources as people’s lives become more simplified by the rapid automatisation and digitalisation of society.

To send data and update the digital representation in real time, countless sensors will be embedded in the real world. Actuators in the physical world will perform tasks that have been programmed in the digital representation in the interim. The 6G network platform aims to bring intelligence, constant connectivity, and complete synchronisation to this new reality.

How a 6G rollout could change work pattern

A rollout of 6G will enhance the way we connect online. Rather than devoting numerous hours to 2D Zoom or Teams meetings, we will convene in 3D virtual environments where our avatars will establish ‘authentic’ eye contact. We will have the capability to convene in clusters and convey nonverbal cues instantaneously. If a one-on-one meeting is required, we could easily swap out everyone and locate a peaceful virtual area to meet. Furthermore, you could ‘fly’ or ‘teleport’ to a digital twin and experience a product or factory directly from there.

Also, businesses will be able to offer engrossing VR and AR training experiences with 6G technology, which will expedite knowledge transfer between teams and improve retention. The aerospace and engineering giant Honeywell is already enhancing its training initiatives with AR and VR. New hires are given mixed reality headsets by the company, which allow them to ‘see’ the work that other employees are performing. The VR and AR technology overlays information to help the new hires learn as they imitate the tasks.

With the 6G rollout, people can experience the new social media world. We will use mixed reality glasses to view people’s 3D worlds—rendering them in real-time and customising them just for us—instead of accessing their 2D profiles on smartphones. For instance, we might go to someone’s virtual house and enjoy their artwork and vacation memories rendered in three dimensions. Alternatively, we could arrange a virtual planet get-together for a fireside conversation with our new and old social media friends.

The medical field will undergo a revolution thanks to 6G technology. We’ll have smart sensors floating through our bloodstream, measuring and monitoring every facet of our health with lightning-fast data speeds. These networked devices will gather data continuously, analyse it, and provide recommendations and health issue predictions ahead of time.

Additionally, smart devices that can provide medical attention and physical support will be available to us. These devices will be backed by online digital avatars that are updated regularly. Our healthcare sector will transition from a reactive to a personalised and predictive model with the help of these new developments. This will significantly affect everyone who works in the healthcare industry today and completely change the way we take care of our health in the future.

With 6G connectivity, we will have real-time, 4D maps that can help us manage the extreme traffic of our future cities, including autonomous vehicles on the ground (and even in the air). Highly precise sensors in cars and base stations that can navigate and provide you with the fastest, most comfortable commute will make your commute better.

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The stakeholders in the project are network vendors, communication service providers, verticals, technology providers and leading European communications research institutes. The research and development division of Nokia—Nokia Bell Labs has already started researching fundamental 6G technologies, media reports said. The technology giant is expected 6G to launch 6G commercially by 2030. It is reported that the company will take into account the typical 10-year cycle between network generations.

Peter Vetter, Head of Access and Devices Research, Nokia Bell Labs, told the media, “Even though there is still a lot of innovation in 5G with the release of new standards, we are already exploring 6G in our research lab. In the 6G era we will see applications that will not only connect humans with machines but also connect humans with the digital world.”

In addition, Hexa-X and Nokia are closely working on 6Genesis, which is a national programme backed by the academy of Finland. The programme is also led by the University of Oulu and Horizon Europe Smart Networks and Services for the research and development of next-generation network technologies and services, media reports said.

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Chinese tech giants such as Huawei, ZTE and China Unicorn have started research on 6G independently besides a research unit set up by the government. Last year, the US President Donald Trump tweeted that he would like to see 6G roll out in the US alongside 5G at the earliest possible. Even Japan has announced similar plans on this front, although it has lagged behind in 5G rollout compared to other world economies.

It is early to predict what 6G might turn out to be but experts believe that it will target speed of 1 terabyte per second. The idea of it might seem unrealistic at present, but in a fast-changing high paced technological landscape, 6G might be exactly what we need to break the speed barrier in years to come. Also, the launch of 6G will have a long way to go — and is expected to take place by the end of this decade, or even possibly in the next.

China is accelerating efforts in 6G
While 5G has soon become a reality — its benefits are yet to be seen. Against this background, Chinese mobile operators are expected to deploy more than 600,000 5G base stations by the end of the year. According to Lu Chuncong, deputy director of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), leading telecommunication companies such as China Mobile, China Unicorn and China Telecom have already built more than 250,000 5G base stations across the country.

In fact, shipments of 5G phones in the country are expected to exceed 180 million by the end of the year. Chuncong also highlighted that there are over 400 5G innovation applications in the country, covering sectors such as industry, transport and medical treatment. According to official data, the number of 5G subscribers in China currently exceeds 36 million.

The reason China is engaging in a full scale 5G deployment is to boost its digital economy. For example, China Mobile which is the world’s largest operator in terms of subscribers said that it added 29.17 million 5G subscribers in the first quarter of 2020. According to the operator, it had a total of 31.72 million 5G subscribers by the end of March, compared to a 2.55 million 5G customers at the end of last year. It is also aiming to acquire over 232,000 5G base stations in an effort to extend coverage to 28 regions across the country.

With a full scale deployment underway, China is now taking the lead in the next-generation technology. In another example, ZTE which is a major international provider of telecommunications, enterprise and consumer technology solutions signed a strategic cooperation agreement on 6G with China Unicorn. Under the terms of the agreement, both parties will share their data on 6G and jointly explore the development of the technology. It is also reported that Huawei has started research on 6G.

China’s Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement that it will set up two working groups to carry out research on 6G. In theory, the first group will consist of relevant government departments who will be responsible for promoting 6G research and development in the country. The second group comprising 37 universities, research institutes and enterprises will lay out the technical aspects of 6G.

Although 6G is still a decade away, its research has already begun and is in its nascent stage. Vice Minister Wang Xi at the Ministry of Science and Technology said that the technical route for 6G remains unclear and further emphasised that the key indicators and application scenarios have not been standardised yet. Last year, Huawei’s chief executive Ren Zhengfei told the media that even though the company is working simultaneously on 5G and 6G, it is in its early phases and has a long way to go before commercialisation begins.

Key differentiators between 5G and 6G
To common knowledge, 5G would point to greater internet speed despite being the nerve centre of world economies. This means, 6G would only operate at an even greater speed and lower latency. Experts suggest that 6G will go beyond a wired network with devices acting as antennas using a decentralised network which will not be under the control of a single network operator.

In practice, if everything is connected through 5G — then 6G will set those connected devices free as higher data speeds and lower latency make instant device-to-device connection possible. In addition, experts believe that 6G will target speeds approximately 8,000 times the speed of 5G. So the question is — can 6G achieve that speed?

5G is expected to drive the technological innovation behind concepts such as autonomous cars, drones and smart cities. In the years to come, 6G could transform these concepts into a reality. While the concept of an autonomous car is still relatively new, companies are looking to capitalise on advanced concepts powered by 6G. NTT Docomo has explained the possibilities of 6G in cyberspace to support human thought and action in real-time using wearable technology and micro-devices mounted on the human body.

Who is working on 6G?
Although China has understood the importance of 6G — it is only a matter of time before major companies and governments begin their own projects on this front. Japan has joined the 6G bandwagon along with China. Earlier this year, Japan announced in a press conference that it seeks to lead standardisation efforts and examine potential challenges in 6G development and deployment.

In Finland, the 6G flagship research programme is backed by Nokia, the University of Oulu and other telecom as well as business bodies. Interestingly, a 6G summit was held last year to discuss the various implications of 6G. Both Samsung and LG have research centres in South Korea which is also conducting research on Terahertz band technology for 6G. It is reported that they are planning to make 6G 100 times faster than 4G LTE and 5 times faster than 5G networks.

That said, SK Telecom, Nokia and Ericsson are collaborating on a 6G research project. Last February, US President Donald Trump tweeted that he wants to deploy both 5G and 6G in the country as soon as possible.

Key enablers of 6G technology
While 5G has made us familiar to technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of things (IoT), 6G will be developed on the back of existing and new technologies.
Millimetre wave technologies: Millimeter wave, also known as millimeter band is the band of spectrum between 30 gigahertz and 300 gigahertz. Telecoms and research units across the globe are testing 5G wireless broadband technology on millimeter wave spectrum. Using millimetre-wave technologies opens up the possibility of having a wide channel bandwidth. With huge data speeds and bandwidths required for 6G, the millimetre wave technologies will be further developed, possibly extending into the TeraHertz region of the spectrum.

Massive MIMO: MIMO stands for Multiple-input multiple-output. This technology is a wireless network that allows transmitting and receiving of more than one data signal simultaneously over the same radio channel. Standard MIMO networks often use around three to four antennas, while massive MIMO makes use of a higher number of antennas, going up to thousands. In recent times, China’s ZTE has used massive MIMO technology with as many as 96 to 128 antennas. Although MIMO is being used in many applications such as LTE and Wi-Fi, the number of antennas is fairly limited. In the coming years, as research on 6G reaches advanced stages, massive MIMO technology is expected to play an important role in its implementation.

On-demand artificial intelligence: AI has huge potential and when it comes to the telecommunications landscape, it is bringing a radical change in an era of advanced digitisation and technological development. The low latency and high capacity of 5G will also allow AI processing to be distributed among the device, edge cloud and central cloud — enabling flexible system solutions for a variety of new and enhanced experiences. This wireless edge architecture is adaptable and allows appropriate tradeoffs to be made per use case. For example, performance and economic tradeoffs may help determine how to distribute workloads to reach the required latency or compute requirements for a particular application.
Bret Greenstein, senior vice president and global markets head for AI and analytics at Cognizant told Forbes that smart, AI-based devices that operate at the edge for buildings, cities and vehicles can make complex decisions in real-time based on the data they see.

Imagine a camera that can understand what it is seeing in real-time and decides what actions to take based on the images it sees. This whole system will fit on a chip in an image sensor that can be mounted almost anywhere. So, if all the decision making takes place in this smart edge device, why do we need 5G? Truth be told, each device only knows the data local to itself—images, sound, temperatures, etc. However, bringing in high speed data can give that AI-driven device more context. For instance, an image sensor in a car can use AI and detect a road hazard. And if it can communicate in high speed with low latency, it can share that data with other cars to help them avoid the hazard, or it can incorporate data from other cars to optimise a route to ensure on-time arrival, considering traffic and weather ahead across multiple routes.

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