Envision a future where the lines between the physical and digital realms are indistinguishable: a world where holographic representations attend team meetings and autonomous vehicles navigate city streets guided by digital twins.
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The deployment of sixth-generation technology for wireless communications, or 6G, will not only significantly advance current cellular and internet capabilities, but will also redefine how we interact with technology and the world around us.
While the successor to the 5G wireless standard is still under development, the international community is negotiating regulatory standards that will pave the way for its commercial deployment by the end of this decade.
China has already made its mark, establishing three technological standards for 6G in 2024 under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). And this year’s national development goals – released in March – included cultivating “future industries” like 6G technology.
Not all countries are as positive about 6G as China. An industrial report published in the Chinese journal Scientia Sinica Informationis last year noted that there were “still obvious differences in the attitudes of different countries and regions towards 6G”.
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“European and American operators are not willing to develop 6G due to the relatively lagging 5G deployment,” said the report, which was drafted by the leading players in China’s telecommunications sector.