A few decades ago, today’s mobile networks would have been practically unthinkable. Even in the early days of the smartphone era, devices were stuck on GSMA-based 3G networks – a far cry from the speedy downloads and pain-free media streaming of 5G.
While the evolution from 3G to 4G enabled better mobile networking and noticeably faster browsing, the transition from 4G to 5G brought even greater improvements in speed and latency. It’s still early days for 5G, too. The technology is still unavailable in some places. And, once rollouts are complete, 5G should provide adequate networking for the rest of the 2020s.
But work on the next generation of over-the-air networking has already started. This new iteration is called – drum-roll, please – 6G.
With its ultra-high speeds, which are hundreds or even thousands of times quicker than 5G, and distributed networks bringing fast, reliable compute power everywhere, 6G may fuse our physical and digital worlds more closely together. It will likely be critical in the wider adoption of automated vehicles and smart buildings and infrastructure.
However, it’s important to note that 6G networks have not been defined or standardised. For now, we have only hints about what these next-generation mobile networks might look like.
How does 6G compare to 5G in terms of speed and latency?
5G uses three categories of frequency bands for transmitting data: low, mid and high. At the lowest band – that’s below 1GHz waves – operators can achieve wide coverage but speeds are slow. The mid-band, between 1GHz and 6GHz, strikes a balance between speed and coverage. And the high-band, at 24GHz to 40GHz, is very fast but has a small coverage area.
Frequency bands for 6G are yet to be determined but the some ranges might be expressed in terahertz rather than gigahertz (1THz is equal to 1,000GHz). This would enable considerably faster data transfers.
Early experiments in laboratory settings indicate that 6G networks might be 200 times faster, or more, than 5G. Researchers in China, for example, managed to transmit data at 206Gb per second using a terahertz frequency band – that’s roughly equivalent to 200 films at the 720p resolution each second.
Researchers at University College London broke that record in October 2024. They transferred data at rate of 938Gb per second – 9,000 times faster than an average 5G connection. The researchers used an ultra-wide band, with a combination of radio and light waves, to achieve the transmission.
What are the economic implications of transitioning from 5G to 6G?
5G has enabled the growth and development of industry 4.0, connected factories and the internet of things (IoT). It has also greatly enhanced the user experience for nearly 2 billion people using mobile phones and other connected devices worldwide.
Using 5G networks, industrial operators can connect their various machinery and/or devices with next-to-no delay in communications. Enterprises have also created closed, private networks with higher transmission speeds and significantly lower latency than was possible in previous generations.
This has been a game-changer for industrial applications, such as smart factories, where connectivity and latency needs are high. Features such as network-slicing allow mobile networks to be split into separate virtual networks that are earmarked for different purposes or requirements, like speed or security.
The business impact of 6G may be even greater. As compute capacity increases, 6G will enable enormous amounts of data to be transmitted quickly. For example, complex 3D renderings or ultra-high-resolution content could be transferred from point A to point B without lagging.
Mobile connectivity has also been transformative for rural communities and developing economies, where physical infrastructure required for web access is lacking. 4G and 5G have massively improved connectivity in regions that were once isolated, but 6G could help close the digital divide further by bringing advanced computing power to these areas.
How will 6G impact data security and privacy?
Because 6G technologies are still in the research phase, it’s difficult to say what privacy and security issues might arise.
Experts believe 6G networks will be AI-native, meaning that AI technologies will be embedded in the networking tools. This could bring a whole host of benefits: network capacity could be portioned out automatically based on demand, for instance; and devices built into industrial facilities, automated vehicles and smart cities could be orchestrated autonomously. But the integration of AI will also present new security risks.
For one, the use of AI in these networks greatly expands the attack surface. So does the use of edge computing to deliver services closer to users’ devices. While this will almost certainly create more distributed systems, ensuring broader coverage, it will also create more potential access points for malicious actors.
Plus, operating on higher frequency bands may create security issues that we are simply not aware of yet.
As for privacy, 4G and 5G networks are already being used to connect our physical world with digital devices, using sensors, monitors and other IoT equipment. 6G will further increase digital connections among physical objects. It is possible that the technology could be used to digitise almost all aspects of our physical lives.
When will 6G be released?
6G tech is unlikely to be ready for deployment and commercialisation until the 2030s. But there’s still more value to be squeezed from the set of technologies that constitute 5G. These networks should be adequate for the rest of this decade.
A few decades ago, today’s mobile networks would have been practically unthinkable. Even in the early days of the smartphone era, devices were stuck on GSMA-based 3G networks – a far cry from the speedy downloads and pain-free media streaming of 5G.
While the evolution from 3G to 4G enabled better mobile networking and noticeably faster browsing, the transition from 4G to 5G brought even greater improvements in speed and latency. It’s still early days for 5G, too. The technology is still unavailable in some places. And, once rollouts are complete, 5G should provide adequate networking for the rest of the 2020s.
But work on the next generation of over-the-air networking has already started. This new iteration is called – drum-roll, please – 6G.
