The telecoms industry may be gearing up for 5G, but China is already looking ahead to 6G, according to reports.
China first started research into 6G in March, and is expected to commence development in earnest in 2020, the South China Morning Postreported. The technology is unlikely to be commercially available until 2030.
The concept of 6G is still very much still in the air, but experts expect speeds in the range of 1Tbps. Researchers have already achieved mobile speeds of 1Tbps during lab trials.
The head of China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's (MIIT) 5G technology working group, Su Xin, told local media he also expects 6G to deliver improvements across the same three areas as 5G will deliver – improved bandwidth, low latency and wide connection areas.
If 6G can deliver on its speed potential it could revolutionize the structure of both wired and wireless networks, he said.