European vision on 6G revealed
The 5G Infrastructure Association (5G IA), which represents the private side in 5G Infrastructure Public Private Partnership (5G PPP), achieved a major milestone with the publication of a paper on June 7th that outlines its European Vision for the 6G network ecosystem.
The 5G IA is preparing for the next chapter in the story of mobile communications with the new ‘Smart Networks and Services’ (SNS) framework, and the white paper published by 5G IA provides a vision for future mobile networks, covering key areas related to 6G research from technical, societal, policy and business perspectives. While there is still a lot to do with 5G and its evolution to unleash the full potential of 5G, it is great to see the growing movement in 6G.
The paper envisions that from around 2030 and onwards, 6G will bring in a new era in which billions of things, humans, robots and drones will be connected, generating zettabytes of digital information. In addition to presenting potential opportunities and obstacles related to 6G and recommendations for both policymakers and businesses, the paper also explains how 6G is expected to play a key role in the evolution of society towards the 2030s, as the convergence between the digital, physical and personal worlds increasingly becomes a reality. And how 6G will support the European Green Deal's objective of reaching climate neutrality for Europe by 2050, ultimately contributing to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
It was an honor to help lead the process of creating a harmonized view on 6G as one of the two main editors of the paper. I started the journey with Professor Arturo Azcorra and continued with Professor Carlos Jesus Bernardo, both from the University Carlos III of Madrid. We had excellent cooperation among us, as well as with the extended team from industry and academia.
The ultimate completion of 6G requires full cooperation among all entities on all levels, including global standards, to ensure an affordable and scalable 6G system that can be utilized worldwide.
It was very exciting to see that the vision outlined by 5G IA aligns very well with our 6G vision and research work at Nokia, where we will see a confluence of the digital, physical and biological worlds with human beings at the center in the 6G era. What’s more, we expect that six potential technology transformations will play a part in shaping the 6G ecosystem of the future.
The journey is just beginning, and it is a thrilling time for 6G research. I am looking forward to the next steps of 6G research with the researcher community both inside and outside Nokia!
