The US 6G rollout won't be a walk in the park, but AT&T has lots of courage

It's true that not everyone is enjoying 5G today, but that doesn't mean we're not moving (at a quick pace, on top of it) towards tomorrow's 6G standard.

But it's not like one day we'll turn 5G off and miraculously move to 6G. It wasn't the case with the 4G to 5G transition. In fact, things could be pretty complicated with 6G.

The next standard will surely need more radio spectrum and here comes the "but" part: there simply isn't enough available to give every technology its own dedicated frequencies.

It's about 2030

An interesting in-depth article on the matter introduces us to a recently held 6G-focused Forum panel featuring representatives from NTIA (the National Telecommunications and Information Administration), AT&T, LitePoint and the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance.

Everybody agreed that 6G networks would have to share spectrum with other users instead of relying entirely on their own dedicated bands. The US government wants to identify at least 500 MHz of spectrum that can be seeded to commercial users before 2030. Mobile operators like AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile could get access to these frequencies to expand their network capacity, but the government first has to work out which bands can be made available.

Why?

In short, other users already occupy some of these frequencies, so the government might not be able to free them up immediately. Which means that some government systems will have to continue using their current frequencies for years; this, in return, means that US mobile operators may have to coexist with them (rather than wait for them to move). One example is CBRS, a US system that coordinates access to shared spectrum; better data and AI tools could help decide who gets to use particular frequencies and when.

One thing is for sure, sharing will become increasingly necessary.

Telcos will need rules

US telcos will need to know how sharing will affect their signals before they can build reliable networks around it. This means regulators must establish technical rules for details such as signal strength and interference so manufacturers can test whether their equipment will work properly.

This may sound easy, but in real life, there'll be many hidden obstacles and limitations initially. Testing every possible scenario would take too much time, but 6G beta testing groups won't mind, I'm sure.

The way of the future

Beyond simply being "better", which translates to faster and more reliable, 6G could introduce more frequency bands, antenna designs and ways of transmitting data. This creates many more tech combinations that manufacturers would need to test.

What AT&T believes in

The panel also discussed how different generations of cellular networks could share frequencies. AT&T believes a newer approach called multi-RAT spectrum sharing (MRSS) could improve on the existing technology that allows 4G and 5G to use the same spectrum.

The older 4G/5G sharing system has technical limitations because 5G must accommodate certain signaling elements used by 4G. According to AT&T, 5G's newer radio design offers more flexibility, which could make it easier to share spectrum efficiently with future technologies.

Mint Mobile's 6-month plans now cost $10/mo

$10 /mo

$35

$25 off (71%)

Mint Mobile is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a special offer on its six-month subscription plans. For a limited time, you can get your preferred tier (6GB, 17GB, 23GB or unlimited) for just $10/mo. That saves you between 50% and 71% on the carrier's mobile plans, making it way easier to recommend.

Buy at Mint Mobile