Sixth Generation Cellular: Looking Beyond 5G to the 6G Technology Market
Photo by Taylor Vick
This report is a one of a kind investigation into the upcoming 6G technology market that builds upon our extensive analysis in LTE, 5G, and computing (core cloud, edge computing, HPC, and quantum), and other related areas such as artificial intelligence and AI support of other technologies. The report looks beyond 5G (B5G) as it evaluates R&D efforts, technologies, and anticipated capabilities that both build upon 5G as well as leap far beyond what is currently envisioned with existing solution abilities. The report includes quantitative analysis with 6G technology market sizing for 2025 through 2030.
Description
Looking beyond fifth generation (5G) cellular towards sixth generation (6G) technology is challenging, particularly as the former is not yet (fully) commercially launched and the latter is in the R&D stage. However, investigating the 6G technology market is just what Mind Commerce has done the past few months and what we have uncovered is both exciting and concerning.
The excitement stems from what is possible with 6G technology, which is nothing short of amazing in terms of both the high-tech lifestyle it may engender as well as the positive impact on many different industries. The concerns have to do with the impact (or lack thereof) for 5G as well as the disintermediating economic effects of the anticipated 6G technology market.
6G Technology Market Dynamics
One of the overarching insights from this research is that 5G technology (and resulting apps and services) are anticipated to be largely a stepping stone to the 6G technology market. Stated differently, just as 3G did not add substantive value, largely a bridge to 4G/LTE, we also see 5G acting as a catalyst for the 6G market.
Mind Commerce sees this as the case for a few key reasons including: (1) 5G will have minimal effect in the near-term for the consumer segment, (2) Advanced 5G and edge computing supported private wireless solutions for enterprise and industrial sectors will facilitate innovation in smart buildings, smart factories, and automation in general, and (3) 5G will pave the way for expansion of immersive technologies (AR, VR, and haptic Internet), but a truly rich user experience will not come until the 6G technology market is fully developed.
We also see the 6G technology market facilitating substantive improvements in the areas of sensing, imaging, presence and location determination. Higher frequencies will enable much faster sampling rates as well as significantly greater accuracy, down to the centimeter level. This will have big implications for many government and industry solutions in public safety and critical asset protection such as threat detection, health monitoring, feature/facial recognition and decision making (as in law enforcement, social credit systems, and other areas), air quality measurements, gas and toxicity sensing, and much more.
6G radio networks will provide the means of communications and data gathering necessary to accumulate information, but a systems approach will be required for the 6G technology market as a whole involving data analytics, artificial intelligence, and next generation computation capabilities via High Performance Computing (HPC) and quantum computing.
The aforementioned transition will be both exciting and painful, depending on the timing, readiness, and position within the value chain for ecosystem participants.
The 6G technology market will represent yet another large expenditure for communication service providers (CSPs). However, one of the transformative aspects of 6G is that will support a highly distributed service provider environment, meaning that the market will not be so reliant upon incumbent CSPs with licensed spectrum.
In fact, one of the ways in which 5G is laying the groundwork for 6G solutions is the many private wireless implementations involving evolved LTE, 5G, and edge computing for enterprise and industrial customers. Next generation 6G networks will take this one step further with a web of communications providers, many of which will be self-providers, much in the way that PV solar has engendered co-generation within the smartgrid.
The 6G technology market will also be a major facilitator of many new innovations, across a wide variety of industry verticals. However, due to the highly strategic nature of certain 6G capabilities, sovereign nations will likely be most interested in the 6G technology market for government wireless applications. This may very well make the “arms race” for 5G supremacy look like a warm-up for the main event, which will be a race to see what countries can dominate the 6G technology market and related applications, services, and solutions.
6G Technology Market Report
This research builds upon our extensive analysis in LTE, 5G, and computing (core cloud, edge computing, HPC, and quantum), and other related areas such as artificial intelligence and AI support of other technologies. This report is a one of a kind investigation into the upcoming 6G technology market.
The report looks beyond 5G (B5G) as it evaluates R&D efforts, technologies, and anticipated capabilities that both build upon 5G as well as leap far beyond what is currently envisioned with existing solution abilities. The report includes quantitative analysis with 6G technology market sizing for 2025 through 2030.
Those interested in this report will also be interested in the following related areas: 5G Applications Market, 5G Security Market, 5G Smart Antenna Market, and the Multi Access Edge Computing Market