As mobile 5G networks and services are becoming available in an increasing number of countries around the world, there is broad consensus among industry players that 6G might become commercially available, at least in some countries, from 2030.

A new Global Trends report provides an overview of the current research and standardization efforts regarding the future launch of the 6G technology. It also reports on the 6G strategies, plans and initiatives already announced in selected economies around the world.

In terms of standardisation, the 3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) adopted an official logo, “5G-Advanced” for all the research beyond 5G, i.e. from Release 18 onwards. In the meanwhile, individual industry groups started issuing white papers on 6G. All industry publications on 6G so far underline how the new technology will significantly improve the (already high) performance of 5G networks, in order to support new use cases. Some of the publications also anticipate relevant challenges, including on 6G spectrum availability and use.

The Chinese government has made very few announcements on 6G until now. On the other hand, other advanced economies, including the EU, Japan and South Korea have already issued plans or allocated significant budgets for 6G research and development. In the US a considerable part of the 6G debate is being led by the private sector. However, over the past two years the US government also committed to bilateral cooperation on 6G with some of its international allies.

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