Global Mobile Operators Call for More Graceful Evolution of 6G Mobile

The NGMN Alliance (Next Generation Mobile Networks Alliance), which is an open forum founded by mobile operators from across the world (e.g. BT, Vodafone, Tele2 etc.), has today taken a more “proactive” stance on influencing the development of future 6G mobile broadband tech by pushing for a more “graceful evolution“.

At present it’s fairly normal for a new ‘Generation’ of mobile technology to start being deployed across the United Kingdom, as well as many other countries, every 7 to 10 years. For example, the first 4G services began to deploy across the UK during late 2012 (we were later than other countries on this one), while 5G followed in 2019 (we were quicker than other countries on this generation).

The problem is that the cost of deploying each new evolution of mobile technology has been increasing, not least because they’ve been adapted to work over ever higher frequencies (i.e. to make the most of that you need a denser and more complex network to overcome distance related signal degradation). Operators may also find that they have to throw out a lot of what came before in order to extract the most benefit, which adds to the costs.

The situation means that, in recent years, we’ve seen calls from regulators, engineers and governments for a different approach to be taken. For example, back in 2021 the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) – backed by the UK government and Ofcom – called for the development of 6G to prioritise societal benefits, instead of the usual focus on delivering “ever higher data [speeds] and ever higher spectrum bands” (here).

At present 6G is widely expected to be aiming for theoretical peak data rates of up to 1Tbps (Terabits per second) – or 1000Gbps if you prefer – and may be able to harness radio spectrum up to the TeraHertz (THz) bands, while also using AI optimisations, new antenna designs and other changes to improve network efficiency. But hitting such speeds in the real-world would be a huge challenge without a big increase in network cost.

Naturally, mobile operators, such as Three UK, Vodafone, EE (BT) and O2 (VMO2) in the UK, still prefer to harness lower or mid-band mobile frequencies in order to ensure good coverage and greater economic viability. Higher frequencies are weaker and don’t travel as far, but they can carry more data due to an excess of spectrum frequency.

In short, rolling out 6G properly could become so expensive that overall coverage may end up suffering, while operators will have had hardly any time to recover from the costly 5G build before. In the UK, we haven’t even deployed or released mmWave bands for 5G yet, partly due to a lack of interest and the slow regulatory pace of change.

Suffice to say, the NGMN Alliance has now become the latest – and arguably most important (they represent many of the operators themselves) – group to say that the “traditional way of introducing a new technology generation must evolve“, while still “ensuring that 6G delivers tangible benefits to end-users, simplifying network operations and ensuring sustainability, while offering compelling new experiences.”

Luke Ibbetson, Member of the NGMNA Board and Head of Group R&D at Vodafone, said:

“Whatever 6G might become, it will be built on the foundations of 5G. This publication shines a light on the challenges our industry faces in delivering compelling new 6G services and capabilities for end-users. Simultaneously, as we embark on this journey towards the 6G era, we are actively steering network disaggregation and an open, interoperable cloud native architecture.”

The group’s position statement highlights some key demands, such as a desire for future 6G mobile network standards to be globally harmonised (easier said than done) and for its deployment to “not result in degraded performance for customers connected to 5G networks.”

On top of that, it wants 6G to ensure interoperability and backward compatibility with 5G, while any new features should be able to be deployed as and when required, without “compromising existing core connectivity services“, such as voice. You can see a full list of their requirements below, and it all sounds very logical.

The catch is that such requirements may hobble the peak performance increase and capabilities of future upgrades, while not every country or group typically follows the same philosophy toward mobile development. The calls may also be coming too little, too late, given that the development of 6G started several years ago and, while not yet finalised, is already very close to unveiling its first draft standards.

Nevertheless, the organisations that set the standards and develop the hardware for future mobile technologies do – at times – seem to have become increasingly divorced from the real-world economic considerations of the mobile operators themselves. Suffice to say, we suspect that many people will be receptive to the viewpoints being put forward by the NGMN Alliance today and perhaps rightly so.

6G Requirements of the NGMN Alliance

INNOVATIONS AND NEW SERVICES

1. 6G provides an opportunity to support innovative new IMT-2030 features such as joint sensing and communications, AI, extended AR/VR, enhanced positioning etc.

2. 6G should facilitate seamless integration and interoperability with fixed and satellite networks.

3. 6G should inherently support network related APIs, fostering new service offerings which leverage network capabilities.

OPERATIONAL PRIORITIES

1. Network simplification leading to lower operational cost whilst retaining scalability and flexible deployment models.

2. Absolute energy reduction when assessed across mobile and fixed networks to support the transition towards low carbon economies.

3. Features (such as AI) that support automated network operations and orchestration to enable efficient, dynamic service provisioning.

4. Proactive network management capabilities across fixed and mobile networks to predict and address issues before they impact user experience.

5. Quantum safe infrastructure, resistant to attack by Quantum computers.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

1. 6G mobile network standards must be globally harmonised.

2. 6G must not inherently trigger a hardware refresh of 5G RAN infrastructure. The decision to refresh 5G RAN hardware for operational reasons such as end-of-life, energy consumption or new capabilities must be an operator driven choice, independent of supporting 6G.

3. 6G introduction must allow certain scenarios to be realised through software-based feature upgrades of existing network elements to meet 6G requirements.

4. 6G must not result in degraded performance for customers connected to 5G networks.

5. New features should be able to be deployed as and when required, without compromising existing core connectivity services such as voice.

6. 6G must address demonstrable customer needs across mobile, fixed and non-terrestrial networks.

7. 6G must ensure interoperability and backward compatibility with 5G.

8. 6G must incorporate robust security measures by design to protect against emerging threats and vulnerabilities.

SPECTRUM

1. Existing IMT spectrum identifications (<7GHz) will remain essential for delivering mobile coverage.

2. New IMT spectrum in bands 6-15GHz must be licensed for IMT-2020 and beyond technologies.

3. Deployments using new IMT spectrum in the sub-THz bands may adopt a new IMT-2030 and beyond radio technology.