The European Commission appointed Nokia to oversee Hexa-X, a flagship 6G research project which aims to drive the continent’s work around developing the technology. The project goals include creating unique 6G use cases and scenarios, developing fundamental 6G technologies and defining a new architecture for an intelligent fabric that integrates key 6G technology enablers.
The Hexa-X project has been awarded funding from the European Commission under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program, a significant step toward bringing together key industry stakeholders in Europe to take the lead in advancing 6G. The stakeholders represent the full value-chain of future connectivity solutions ranging from network vendors, communication service providers, verticals, and technology providers, as well as the most prominent European communications research institutes.
The stakeholders include fellow vendor Ericsson, and operators Orange, Telecom Italia and Telefonica. The project will begin on 1 January 2021, with a planned duration of two-and-a-half years. Nokia expects 6G to launch commercially by 2030, following the typical ten-year cycle between generations and in line with projections by other industry players at the 6G Symposium event in October.
Nokia and SURF, the organization for IT in Dutch education and research, have successfully reached a single carrier 800Gb/s optical transmission over SURF’s existing cross-border, multi-vendor research and education network infrastructure.
Nokia and Vodafone are collaborating to test the viability of L4S technology over passive optical networks (PON).
The GSMA believes that critical reform of European laws is necessary to position the region as a technology frontrunner by 2030.
