Nokia has already made public its wish to take advantage of the 6G opportunity in front of it. India has been pushing strongly to establish the nation as a leader in 6G research and development. Now, company and country join forces to try and achieve their goals.
Nokia announced it has established a 6G Lab at its Global R&D centre in Bangalore, India. According to the manufacturer, it is a “first-of-its-kind project to accelerate the development of fundamental technologies and innovative use cases” for the future network.
The Lab was inaugurated virtually by the Minister of Railways, Communications, Electronics & IT, Ashwini Vaishnaw.
“Interesting use cases coming out of this lab will be related to transportation safety, health care and education, which will be another big contribution to the entire Digital India suite,” he said.
The lab’s primary focus will be, as Nokia calls it, the “network as a sensor” – technology that enables the network to sense objects, people and movement without the need for onboard sensors. The facility features a setup to research this type of capability. The Lab will also provide an experimental platform for researching algorithms, privacy, and sustainable system design.
Standardisation is another important activity that the company’s experts at the centre will carry out, the company shared. They will work to achieve India’s aspiration to contribute towards global 6G technology standards.
“We look forward to collaborating with key stakeholders to help India become a major player in 6G technology development and adoption,” said Nishant Batra, Nokia’s Chief Strategy and Technology Officer. “[We want to help India] take its place in the global arena as a leading developer and supplier of advanced telecom technologies and solutions.”
Last March, the government of India released the Bharat 6G Vision, a document that envisions the country’s pivotal role in the standardisation, development, and implementation of 6G technology. In July, the administration launched the Bharat 6G Alliance, an industry-led, government-backed group aiming to translate the vision into reality.
The primary focus areas of the Alliance are health, education, entertainment, agriculture, weather predictions, pandemic and public services, and productivity.
Since its launch, the initiative has already established global partnerships with other associations, such as the North American Next G Alliance.
Journalist since eight years old, when I would read the newspaper out loud and pretend it was a radio show. Based in São Paulo, I have worked for Brazilian websites as reporter and editor before joining 6GWorld
