Data consumption is increasing. The use cases of internet are increasing too. Therefore a need to upgrade networks is felt to manage the increased bandwidth, faster speeds and improve range and accessibility of connectivity.

6G is a technology in the making for future to provide higher speeds and reliable ultra-low latency affordable solutions. Just as 2G/3G yielded to 4G, 5G too will make way for 6G. In fact, it will be built over 5G technology.

Industry 4.0, and then Industry 5.0 will be a major user for 6G. These will be remote-controlled factories with machine-to-machine and human-to-human interactions. 6G will facilitate autonomous cars and smart wearables.

6G will bring about convergence of digital, physical and human worlds. It will make use of AI and ML. It will make use of sub-millisecond latency. It will provide good connectivity to India’s hinterland.

6G right now is a concept, It is yet to be realised. The government has made a ‘vision document’ on it. It was released in March, 2022. It envisages a speed of 100x faster than 5G some seven years hence. It is going to be a suitable technology for smart cities, smart homes and smart cars. It will do big data analytics and holographic displays.

The speed 100x of 5G is 1 Tbps. The broadband service will be far more advanced. The video quality and gaming experience will be smarter.

India expects to launch the technology by 2030. Prior to that, there should be an eco-system for that — of devices and systems, finance for R&D, standardisation, identifications of spectrum for 6G etc.

There will be two phases for implementation — period between 2023-25 and 2025-30. In the first phase , the centre will support proof of concept to explore the ideas. The second phase will concentrate on use cases for commercialisation.

India has obtained 127 plus patents on 6G from global institutions.