Forget 5G, Samsung kicks off 6G research

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5G networks might only still be available in a few countries, but that hasn’t stopped Samsung from commencing research into 6G.

Currently a minor, but growing, player in the telecoms equipment world, Samsung is hoping to get the jump on 6G over big names like Ericsson, Nokia and the embattled Huawei.

To support these efforts, the company has expanded its telecommunication research team and created the Advanced Communications Research Centre, based out of its home city of Seoul, South Korea. Here, Samsung whizzes will try to puzzle together what will eventually constitute 6G – a subject that has yet to be debated, let alone realised.

“The current team on telecommunications technology standards has been expanded to start leading research on the 6G network,” a Samsung spokesperson told The Korea Herald.

Early predictions suggest that 6G could deliver staggering speeds of up to 1TBPS. While few applications require such speeds today, who knows what’s going to be needed in the future.

Naturally, we shouldn’t be expecting 6G anytime soon, in fact, based on the 3G and 4G timetables, we won’t probably won’t see it as commonplace until around 2030. So, if you were hoping to put an upgrade off until 6G hits then you might be waiting a while.

South Korea is thought to have been the first to switch on the first commercial 5G mobile network earlier this year, followed closely by AT&T and Verizon launching its 5G services in the US. EE turned on the UK’s first 5G network earlier this month, with coverage limited in the busiest parts of six major cities in the UK.

Yesterday, Vodafone debuted its first 5G commercial network in Spain, ahead of its launch in the UK on July 3. Telecoms company, Three also announced that it will launch its 5G network this August in London, before extending it to 25 other UK towns and cities before the end of the year.