When will 6G mobile networks be commercialized worldwide?

Although 5G connectivity is not yet available globally, even in developed countries around the world, planning and research for the next generation of mobile, 6G, is already underway by many countries and international organizations.

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Each new generation of mobile networks typically builds on the use cases provided by the previous generation and introduces new features, in roughly a 10-year cycle. For example, 2G mobile networks, introduced in 1990, offered features such as voice calls and text messages (SMS) encoded in digital form. This was a huge difference from 1G networks, introduced in 1980, which only offered analog calls.

Meanwhile, the 3G mobile network launched in 2000 allowed internet access, the use of GPS global positioning services, and the transmission and reception of high-quality data, sound, and images for both fixed and mobile subscribers at different speeds.

Following 3G, 4G mobile network was born in 2010, providing faster data speed, lower latency than 3G network, allowing support for high-end mobile services such as online TV, HD video, high-end online games, meeting the needs of many users at the same time.

The first commercial 5G mobile network launched in 2019, which is also the newest mobile network today, has provided ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-latency mobile broadband services, enabling completely new use cases such as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), digital twins, autonomous vehicles, smart homes, smart cities and smart farms, as well as remote healthcare.

What is 6G?

6G is the next generation of mobile networks after 5G, and more specifically after 5G Advanced, which is built on the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 18 standard. Release 18 is expected to be finalized in mid-2024 and available for practical application in 2025.

5G Advanced will include major advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and extended reality (XR) that will enable extremely intelligent network solutions that can support more use cases than ever before.

6G network technology currently has no clear definition and has not been approved by international organizations to become official mobile technology. However, many countries and organizations around the world have planned to invest and research this new technology.

When will 6G networks be commercially deployed worldwide?

Cyclically, each new generation of mobile networks is typically deployed every 10 years, and 6G is expected to be commercially deployed by 2030. Some predictions about the 6G network vision expect the completion of the 6G standard and commercialization earlier in countries that have deployed 5G networks early, such as South Korea. Humans and machines will be the main users of 6G networks and will be characterized by the provision of advanced services such as augmented reality, digital twins, etc.

The 6G technology market is expected to enable major improvements in imaging, presence technology, and precise location recognition. Combined with AI technology, 6G computing infrastructure will be able to determine the best place to perform computing, including making decisions about data storage, processing, and sharing.

How fast will 6G be and what use cases will it enable?

According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) IMT-2020/5G 5th Generation Mobile Communication System Air Interface Technical Specification, the theoretical peak data rate of 5G is up to 20 Gbps for downlink and 10 Gbps for uplink; meanwhile, the user experience data rate is 100 Mbps for downlink and 50 Mbps for uplink; the latency for the ultra-high reliability with low latency (uRLLC) communication application scenario is around 1 millisecond and 4ms for the enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) connection scenario, and the connection density is up to 1 million devices per square kilometer for the very large-scale machine communication (mMTC) application scenario.

Although the technical requirements for the next generation of mobile communication systems (IMT-2030/6G) have not yet been finalized, theoretical downlink data rates could reach 1 Terabit per second (1 Tbps or 1,000 Gbps), with latency measured in microseconds. If 6G comes close to these numbers in practice, it will enable much wider coverage and greater efficiency than 5G.

6G Mobile Network Performance (Expected) vs. 5G

The goal of the 6G network is to address the limitations of the 5G network, aiming towards the ability to connect space - atmosphere - ground - undersea. The four main directions of connectivity being researched are: Intelligent Connectivity, Deep Connectivity, Holographic Connectivity and Ubiquitous Connectivity. Currently, there are many potential technologies, including future technologies being considered for inclusion in the 6G network such as quantum communications, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), low-orbit satellites (LEOs)... Technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data analysis are also included in supporting the 6G network to ensure network quality of service (QoS) goals.

Along with the development of 5G's enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low-latency communications (uRLLC), and massive machine-to-machine communications (mMTC) services, the next-generation 6G mobile network will help deliver more immersive extended reality (XR) and enable new capabilities in wireless positioning and remote sensing.

What standards will define 6G?

3GPP's current focus is on finalizing the Release 18 standard for 5G Advanced and deciding on the content of Release 19, which is expected to take place in September 2023. Initial work on the specifications for 6G networks will begin with Release 20 in 2025, with Release 21 expected to be completed and approved in 2028, leading to the commercial launch of 6G networks in 2030.

What frequency spectrum will 6G use?

The future 6G network will be an extremely intelligent mobile network, integrating cellular and satellite technology to create widespread coverage around the world.

6G networks will support all frequency bands used by 5G including low-band (below 1 GHz), mid-band (1-7 GHz) and high-band (mmWave band: 24-100 GHz) and will use new frequency bands, especially the sub-Terahertz (THz) band with frequencies from 100 GHz to 300 GHz and the THz band with frequencies from 300 GHz to 3 THz to provide extremely high speeds, up to 1 Tegabit/second (Tbps), which is about 100 times higher than the current 5G network speed; extremely low latency, microsecond scale, which is about 1,000 times lower than the latency of 5G networks.

Sub-THz bands can deliver very high data rates and ultra-low latency, but pose challenges in terms of coverage, mobility, and device power consumption. Potential use cases include fixed-home wireless connectivity, wireless data centers, ultra-precise positioning, and RF sensing.

6G promises to digitize and connect the world. Countries that are ready to research and deploy 6G network technology include the US, France, Germany, the UK, South Korea, China, Japan, Finland, Singapore and Europe. Many telecommunications equipment manufacturers and major mobile operators in the world are also accelerating technology development to take the lead in defining 6G network standards. The race to develop 6G mobile networks has also been launched with big names in the technology field such as Samsung, LG of Korea, Huawei of China, etc.

What is Vietnam doing to promote research and development of 6G mobile technology?

In Vietnam, on January 7, 2022, the Minister of Information and Communications signed and issued Decision No. 12/QD-BTTTT on the establishment of the Steering Committee to promote research and development of 6G mobile information technology.

According to this decision, the Department of Telecommunications is the standing unit of the Steering Committee, responsible for assisting the Steering Committee in coordinating the activities of the Steering Committee according to the set plan, while ensuring the necessary conditions for the activities of the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee's task is to research and propose to competent authorities on policies, strategies, mechanisms, and policies to create a legal environment, promote research and development on standards, applications, information security, production and commercialization of 6G mobile information equipment and services in Vietnam.

At the same time, the research contributes to the activities of international organizations in research and development of 6G mobile information technology standards on the basis of supporting and facilitating the production of equipment and commercial deployment of 6G mobile information services of Vietnamese enterprises.

The Steering Committee also monitors and synthesizes the research and development situation on standards, production and commercialization of 6G mobile information equipment and services of international organizations and advanced countries in the world; combines research and forecasting of development trends of the domestic and international telecommunications market...

On that basis, a roadmap for research, production and commercialization of 6G equipment, a roadmap for testing and commercialization of 6G services, and solutions to support Vietnamese enterprises in the production and commercialization of 6G equipment and services will be proposed./.