Just when you thought you needed to understand 5G, the march to 6G begins. A new study from Juniper Research predicts that there will be 290 million connections worldwide by 2030. The year after the originally planned release in 2029.
To achieve this early growth, carriers will need to overcome a variety of technical challenges, including network interference issues arising from the use of high-frequency spectrum, the report warns.
The use of this high-frequency spectrum in 6G will be a key technology to deliver throughput speeds 100 times faster than current 5G networks.
However, because cellular technology has never used spectrum bands in this range, the most pressing concern for carriers is minimizing this network interference or creating an unreliable 6G network. The goal is to minimize the risk of
Learn more about our new report, Global 6G Development 2024-2032, or download a free sample.
RIS identified as key emerging 6G technology
To achieve this, the report recommends that carriers invest in RIS (Reconfigurable Intelligent Surfaces). Technology that reduces the impact of interference to network services from large obstructions such as buildings. This is achieved by intentionally reflecting and refracting 6G mobile signals, allowing data packets to navigate around physical obstacles.
As 6G standards become clearer in 2025, RIS technology should be an immediate priority for development. However, some of his 6G networks are geographically wide, so to take full advantage of the technology, carriers will need to implement AI to monitor and adjust his RIS configuration in real time. the report warns.
Study author Alex Webb commented: “Initial 6G coverage will be in the most geographically populated areas to serve as many users as possible. This is key to delivering valuable 6G services to both enterprise customers.”
5G Advanced: The first step to 6G
As we reported a few weeks ago, carriers are being asked to compete with 5G advanced deployments. This will evolve his 5G to its maximum feature richness and create the foundation for more demanding applications and a wider range of use cases than ever before. A truly immersive user experience based on augmented reality (XR) capabilities. This is widely seen as his first step towards 6G.
Another study by Juniper Research predicts that the benefits of 5G Advanced will help grow IoT sectors such as automotive and mobile broadband. Furthermore, by 2028, he predicts there will be more than 360 million 5G IoT devices using public networks. The number of devices in 2024 will increase significantly from his 35 million.
Given the large amount of traffic generated, we identified FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) as the area that would benefit most from these services. FWA leverages cellular networks to provide Internet connectivity to other devices, often via Wi-Fi.
Study co-author Sam Barker commented: “FWA has always been positioned as a key service for 5G network monetization, but with the advent of 5G Advanced and 5G RedCap, carriers will be able to offer network conditions similar to fixed network service providers. Carriers need to leverage their existing billing relationships with consumers to drive FWA solutions.”
Stay tuned for issue 72 of Telemedia Magazine later this week. Available on Telemedia8.1 LIVE in Barcelona on 25th and 26th February 2024. There, we delve deeper into the emergence of 5G Advanced and 6G.
