6G in India: India’s next big goal, beyond the Elon Musk-Mukesh Ambani spectrum spat

6G Network: While Elon Musk could be celebrating a minor victory with the Indian government upholding administrative allocation of spectrum and leveling the ground, the exciting times for communication may have just begun for India. The next big thing for India is 6G and the rollout is not too far away.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has indicated how India is now ‘getting ready’ for 6G. And why is it crucial right now for the government to accelerate efforts? Simply because of the potential that 6G holds for transforming the way the world communicates – making everything faster and easier. The 6G rollout is slated for 2030, which gives India six years of prep time.

But the other global giants have already started making big strides in preparing for this onboarding. The primary domain of preparation for 6G is intellectual property and China currently leads in 6G IP. Other countries, including the US, and South Korea too have made significant moves to get a foothold in the 6G IP space. China, which is already a global leader in 5G, is rushing aggressively to build IPs. Chinese companies, Huawei, ZTE, and China Mobile hold significant 6G-related patents. Till 2023, the Chinese share in this domain was around 40 per cent. In the US, big tech companies like Qualcomm, Intel, and Apple are expected to play significant roles in 6G IP development. The Federal Communications and the National Science Foundation are funding 6G research. South Korea, led by Samsung and LG, is also actively involved in 6G research. The government of South Korea has unveiled plans to invest heavily in 6G as well. It has goals for launching 6G networks by 2028. The European Union too is working on securing IPs in the 6G space – with Nokia and Ericsson, two telecom giants, leading the development of 6G technology. Europe’s hexa-X initiative, an industry-academia collaboration aims to create the foundation of future 6G technologies. In Japan, similar drives for 6G are being led by NTT DoCoMo and Sony. Finally, India too has initiated significant 6G research projects with companies like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel working with global partnerships.

In August, Australia’s high commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell, said the two countries should work together on an ethical framework for 6G. Similar partnerships with other friendly countries are also likely. The preparation has been in progress for a few years. In November 2021, the Department of Telecom announced the formation of a 22-member task force that is solely focused on developing domestic 6G technology.

The race for 6G is particularly intense for the potential it holds. Everything is likely to become a zillion times faster with 6G. It is going to lead to a speed of things that is way beyond what 5G has been able to offer. With Artificial Intelligence already speeding solutions, 6G is likely to reduce processing time to a few milliseconds.

The future of communications is exciting! How exactly will 6G impact your life? 6G spectrum will deliver goods faster with low latency and massive improvements in data processing.

The Indian government has laid out its intent to go beyond limitations and expand the scope of 6G access. For a developing country like India, communication could play a vital role in education and employment – a phenomenon that has already come to light following the 4G and 5G allocations. According to the government, 6G as an emerging technology has the potential to generate jobs and accelerate India’s participation in AI, IoT, Blockchain, and other technologies. With the massive smartphone penetration in India, 6G could revolutionise remote education and healthcare, and other social development besides helping in preparation and safety against natural disasters.

The task in hand for India is to ramp up its 6G IP and patent applications and bolster R&D. But the challenge remains that to be ready for 6G the country would need to skill development now, to be able to cater to the demands of a boom in six years’ time.