Global Telecom Operators Want To Say No To 6G

Speaking at the 6G Forum at the University of Surrey in the UK this week, Andrea Dona, chief network officer at Vodafone UK, said, "Today, we like it or we don't like it, we're acknowledging that after a massive equipment replacement, we haven't moved on from the current technology. 6G should not be another large-scale equipment replacement, but more a software upgrade to fully realize the potential of 5G.”

Dona's point of view hits the pain points of telecom operators very much. After billions of dollars in 5G investment, there has been little or no clear change in revenue. Forget about driverless cars, remote surgery or whatever, there is no real need. The best thing to say about 5G is that it's a higher-capacity technology that avoids spiraling operating costs. Therefore, facing the doubts brought by 5G, the last thing telecom operators want to hear is 6G.

"I don't think the current 10-year cycle, regardless of performance, is a sustainable model," said Maria Cuevas, BT's head of mobile research. Her colleague, BT's chief network and security Chief executive Howard Watson also said at the Mobile World Congress not long ago that the idea that 6G will bring a new round of huge investments is frightening.

Dan Warren, head of advanced network research at Samsung, also disagrees with the idea of several gigabytes. He believes that in most cases, there will be no G statement in scientific research. People consolidate and some things happen naturally, out of control. People don't stop R&D just because G is over. As Samsung's only European customer, Vodafone's Dona also places more emphasis on technology iterations based on software rather than hardware upgrades.