The race to 6G technology has already started with China, USA and Europe as major participants on this new technology developments.
It is known that the ones leading the next technology in developments and being the first to get its patent will be the biggest winner in what some call the next industrial revolution.
In Europe, the European Commission already announced a big funding of almost a billion euros for 6G research. This is a big step to researchers from Europe that are in the middle of the war for the advancements of 6G technology, where China and USA are also trying to be at the forefront of the research.
The Hexa-X consortium
Hexa-X is a consortium of 25 key players from the industry, where Nokia is leading the project and Ericsson has the technical role in it, with the goal of creating a collaborative initiative to frame 6G technology research and investments in Europe.
According to the Hexa-X official website, Hexa-X is not only a defining project for 6G but also “(…) the primary seed for many other projects in the Smart Networks & Services (SN&S) framework geared towards European leadership in 6G. That is why the kick-off of Hexa-X is a historic moment, and why so many research engineers are excited to collaborate on and invent the next-generation network that is expected to be deployed in the 2030s.”
The consortium is also exploring important elements for 6G era and the associated challenges on its research. Therefore, they are defining key values such as sustainable development or digital inclusion, as principles for the construction of future networks.
Europe is not alone in what comes to big investments in 6G technology
In the beginning of 2020 in Japan, the government announced plans to create a joint government–civilian research society on the future technology, with key players like NTT and Toshiba being invited to share their views later in the year.
In China, the scenario it’s not different. The country launched a satellite in November to test airwaves for potential 6G transmission, Huawei has a 6G research center in Canada and the telcos China Unicom and ZTE are working together for the developments of 6G technology.
In the USA side, the Next G Alliance was launched by the telecom standards developer of the country, ATIS. This alliance is also a project for the developments of 6G where companies like Apple Inc., AT&T Inc., Qualcomm Inc., Google and Samsung Electronics Co. are participating.
6G technology o’clock
6G technology is in very early stages, with standards not expected to be developed until 2025 and the rollout of the technology not being expected to begin until 2030. Nevertheless, the time to begin planning is now since 5G is beginning to show the true value of early adoption and 6G is expected will be no different.
This is a big opportunity for Europe to be at the forefront of this new technology and to redefine its technological position in the world.
Related articles: Major US Telcos formed a 6G alliance
