What will emerge from the 6G melting pot?

Consumers may still be coming to terms with 5G, but the telecoms industry is not hanging about—work on 6G is well underway.

Samsung, for example, has just launched a 6G research group in the UK. The company said it would be part of a wider global 6G development project including multiple overseas research centres.

No specific spectrum bands have yet been identified at scale for 6G. However, as our newly updated 6G dossier shows, a consensus is emerging that the technology will need a wide range of bands.

Samsung and Ericsson have started identifying specific 6G candidate bands, including the W-band and D-band. However, it’s not yet clear how much of these two THz bands can be used.

It already seems clear that sharing will also be an important part of the equation, particularly in spectrum bands below 1 GHz.

It’s not just manufacturers who are driving 6G. A number of public sector initiatives are bidding to lead the process. Japan’s “Beyond 5G” initiative, for example, has been running for a while now. South Korea plans to launch a 6G pilot in 2026. The European Commission has launched the Hexa-X project.

In addition, various industry bodies (such as the Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance) and standards organisations have been getting involved.

All of this means that the 6G landscape is still rather fragmented. To make sense of it all, subscribers to our Spectrum Research Service can consult our 6G dossier, which has just been updated for 2022.