What do we know about 6G & What’s next?

Even though 6G is in the very early stages of R&D, there is more and more activity going into the consideration of exactly 6G’s potential. As Huawei stated in a previous article: ‘6G: The next horizon’ “6G is the next-generation advanced mobile communications system, but it will go far beyond communications. 6G will serve as a distributed neural network that provides communication links to fuse the physical, cyber, and biological worlds, truly ushering in an era in which everything will be sensed, connected, and intelligent.” This article goes on to describe the six pillars of 6G: Native AI, Networked Sensing, Integrated NTN, Extreme Connectivity, Trustworthiness and Sustainability.

Current 6G projects around the world

In this article, we’ll conduct a brief review of what various telecommunications and Governments are doing to progress this new technology. Back in 2019, both Huawei and Samsung opened a research centre dedicated to initial work on 6G, with the former sending a 6G test satellite into orbit in November 202 and the latter beginning testing on 6G communication technologies a year later. Fast forward to today and we’re beginning to see calls for further research as well as calls for standards to be set. For example, the Korea Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) will soon hold a workshop to discuss 5G-Advancement and 6G standardization. Similarly, as reported by Light Reading, “ATIS's Next G Alliance and the 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association (6G-IA) announced they signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to exchange information regarding their work programs in areas of mutual interest in the field of 6G communication systems and networks. The MoU also covers collaboration on joint activities, including workshops, seminars, webinars and trials on 6G-related topics.”

Chinese Telecommunications providers such as Huawei and China Mobile appear to be at the forefront of 6G with the latter applying for 400 6G patents and the former expecting 6G technology to hit the market around 2030. 

David Taylor, Managing Director at First Point Group, commented “The beauty of our industry is that it keeps evolving. As a company, we have been involved in the rollout of everything from 2G to 5G and we look forward to seeing the demand for new skill sets and opportunities emerge over the coming years.”

Currently, we’re not seeing a demand for technical jobs in 6G due to its very early stages, but from understanding our client's goal and expectations, we expect engineering jobs in 6G to become more prevalent in the latter part of this decade. We’re keeping a close eye on how 6G develops and are excited to see where this goes.