Global effort key for 6G innovation

China's top industry regulator said on Tuesday that 6G — as a new generation of intelligent and comprehensive digital information infrastructure — requires consensus, collective thinking, and close cooperation from all parties involved in global industry, academia, research, and application to further enhance depth in innovation, breadth in integration, and strength in cooperation.

More efforts are needed to strengthen communication and deepen cooperation to promote the formation of unified 6G global standards, and create a new model of global industrial innovation cooperation, Zhang Yunming, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said via a video link at a 6G telecom conference in Chongqing.

It is important to pursue innovation-driven development, and efforts are needed to deepen the research and development of key technologies, Zhang said.

Several Chinese as well as foreign telecom and smartphone companies have participated in China's 6G technical trials and tests in 2023, as 6G is moving from a concept to a crucial stage for technological breakthrough, said Wang Zhiqin, head of the IMT-2030 (6G) Promotion Group, a government-affiliated flagship platform for promoting 6G and international cooperation in the country.

Wang said Shanghai Nokia Bell, Ericsson, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Huawei, ZTE, Vivo and Inspur have participated in China's 6G technical trials and tests in 2023.

China's 6G development adheres to the principle of open cooperation, strengthens international exchanges and has inked cooperation memorandums with partners in South Korea, Europe and India, she added.

In June, the International Telecommunication Union approved a 6G vision framework, a foundational document for global 6G work, pressing the start button for renewed research and development across the world.

The newly approved 6G standard now includes six key usage scenarios, compared to only three for the 5G technology.

China Unicom is working hard to explore key potential technologies for 6G. The company expects to complete technical research and explore early application scenarios for 6G technology by 2025 and the commercial launch of 6G in China is expected to begin from 2030, according to China Unicom.

Gao Tongqing, deputy general manager of China Mobile, said this is a crucial time to identify critical 6G technologies.

China Mobile has kicked off its 6G public experimental verification platform, which provides an open and scenario-based joint R&D testing environment for industrial partners, supports the verification of various new business and application scenarios, and lowers the R&D threshold for key 6G technologies.