The communications of the future will run on the 6G network. Experts see 2030 as the year of arrival in the new digital world where human potential will be fully connected and network-compatible. The key features of 6G will include: sustainability, reliability and inclusiveness and, through technological innovation, will help the world move forward synergistically in both physical and virtual space.

FROM 5G TO 6G

Although 5G is still being implemented around the world, experts, scholars and international players are already looking to the future, investing and planning for the coming decades on the 6G network that will replace the previous one.

The main features of 5G are bandwidth, faster response times, more devices connected to a single antenna and high interactivity. 6G will be developed by maximising the features of 5G, closing its limits, increasing its potential by exploiting intelligent knowledge systems, improving its detection capability through high-precision sensors, and implementing new human-machine interfaces.

Experts believe that the 6G revolution will be mainly about data. The way data will be collected, processed, transmitted and consumed within the wireless network will support the development of 6G.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Artificial intelligence will play a key role in the success of the 6G revolution. The goal is to apply it to network connections in order to avoid system congestion, and to better sort the huge amount of data that will be transmitted between the many connected devices. Thanks to AI, analysts say, we will be able to enable large-scale connections between intelligent devices, capable of performing complex calculations and solving problems immediately.

Connection speeds will therefore be much faster than even 5G, providing devices with instantaneous communication, which will lead to substantial improvements in our daily lives.

One example is autonomous driving. In a not-too-distant future, cars will be able to constantly receive and send information about their position, the road conditions, the route they are driving, traffic lights and information about surrounding cars. This huge amount of data will be managed and processed by the 6G network, which will ensure that cars can circulate quickly and safely.

CURRENT INVESTMENT SCENARIOS

In several countries around the world, with China leading the way, telecommunications companies and research labs are already looking ahead to the future of mobile communications after 5G.

China is currently home to around 1.43 million 5G base stations and over 500 million users, with the number of connections accounting for over 75% of the global total by the end of 2021. To face competition from China, the US and Japan have allied to jointly invest USD 4.5 billion (USD 2.5 billion US, USD 2 billion Japan) in the development of next-generation mobile technology and « secure and open » 5G networks.

The US and Japan have agreed on joint investments in the research, development, testing and commercialisation of secure networks and advanced information and communications technologies. Priorities include advancing the development of the Open RAN, an architecture that allows network operators to simultaneously deploy equipment from different manufacturers. At the market level, the Open RAN will allow operators to use several suppliers at the same time, widening the arena to new players such as start-ups and universities, encouraging greater innovation and reducing costs.

6G AND ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

The real challenge of 6G, however, is also to conceive and develop connectivity while respecting the environment in a holistic way, making the infrastructure sustainable for both its terrestrial and space portions. Connectivity and sustainability can become the winning combination in the development of the 6G network, which envisages the extension of coverage to extreme environments, particularly space, and the ambitious goal of helping to solve many social problems.

Wireless communication technologies are already being used in key sustainability contexts such as environmental monitoring, real-time measurement of energy consumption or the development of precision agriculture, where 6G promises a quantum leap. Thanks to increased data transmission rates, a transmission delay of no more than one ten-thousandth of a second and the huge number of devices that 6G will be able to support, the new network will, for example, make it possible to monitor large geographical areas in detail, to track individual pieces of waste as they are disposed of, or to programme multiple environmental functions that can exponentially increase operational functions, fostering a new circular economy and new prospects for growth and development.