NTT DOCOMO (DOCOMO) and NTT announced that they will collaborate with world-leading mobile technology vendors Fujitsu, NEC, and Nokia to conduct experimental trials of new mobile communications technologies for the targeted commercial launch of 6G services by around 2030.
Launching the envisioned 6G services will require verification of numerous new mobile technologies, including those needed to newly use frequencies in the millimeter and sub-terahertz (above 6 GHz) bands, in addition to bands for existing 5G services. The trials are also expected to verify AI-based wireless transmission methods. DOCOMO and NTT will jointly conduct experimental trials with the three vendors, focusing on mobile technologies using new 6G frequency bands and AI-based wireless technology among these various mobile technologies.
The new 6G system will greatly exceed the performance of 5G and simultaneously provide high-speed, large capacity, and low latency capabilities, use new high-frequency bands such as sub-terahertz bands above 100 GHz, expand communication coverage in the sky, at sea and in space, and enable both ultra-low-power consumption and low-cost communications.
The realization of 6G is one of the most important goals envisaged in the NTT group's Innovative Optical and Wireless Network (IOWN)* project for launching all-new communication infrastructure. Aiming to realize "5G Evolution & 6G powered by IOWN," DOCOMO and NTT are actively conducting 6G research and development combining NTT's optical and wireless technologies with DOCOMO's mobile technologies.
DOCOMO and NTT will begin conducting indoor trials within the fiscal year ending in March 2023, and outdoor trials will begin in the following fiscal year. The trials are expected to verify concepts proposed so far by DOCOMO and NTT and will be reported in global research groups, international conferences and standardization activities related to 6G, and will serve as a foundation for more advanced technologies.
Through their 6G trials with the three abovementioned vendors as well as other partners, DOCOMO and NTT look forward to accelerating the global standardization and commercialization of 6G.
Naoki Tani, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer at DOCOMO
6G studies are progressing two or three years ahead of that of 5G. From this early stage, we would like to collaborate with world-leading global vendors to proactively demonstrate breakthrough concepts and technologies and promote them to the world.
