Is 6G’s fate to repeat the failings of 5G wireless?

Will the telecom industry embark on another costly wireless upgrade? Telecom consultant and author William Webb thinks so and warns that it risks repeating what happened with 5G. 

William Webb

William Webb published the book The 5G Myth in 2016. In it, he warned that the then-emerging 5G standard would prove costly and fail to deliver on the bold promises made for the emerging wireless technology.

Webb sees history repeating itself with 6G, the next wireless standard generation. In his latest book, The 6G Manifesto, he reflects on the emerging standard and outlines what the industry and its most significant stakeholder - the telecom operators - could do instead.

Developing a new generation wireless standard every decade has proved beneficial, says Webb. However, the underlying benefits with each generation has diminished to the degree that, with 5G, it is questionable whether the latest generation was needed.

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Melding networks to boost mobile broadband

In a Q&A, Bryan Kim, manager at SK Telecom's Core Network Lab, discusses the mobile operator's heterogeneous network implementation and the service benefits.

SK Telecom has developed an enhanced mobile broadband service that combines two networks: 3G and Wi-Fi or Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Wi-Fi. The mobile operator will launch the 3G/ Wi-Fi heterogeneous network service in the second quarter of 2012 to achieve a maximum data rate of 60 Megabits-per-second (Mbps), while the LTE and Wi-Fi integrated service will be offered in 2013, enabling up to a 100Mbps wireless Internet service.  

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