In its latest 6G publication, “6G Requirements and Design Considerations”, the NGMN Alliance (NGMN) has defined several important requirements for 6G. By providing this guidance to the industry, NGMN takes on a leading role in avoiding fragmentation of future 6G standards and achieving affordable deployments and services valued by end users.

The publication offers guidance and input to Standards Development Organisations (SDOs) working towards realisation of the vision of communication systems for 2030 and beyond, currently being developed by ITU-R. It has been developed on the understanding that there will be an evolution towards 6G without distinction between any new 6G technology, an evolution of 5G or a combination of both.

New approaches have been identified within this publication covering digital inclusion, energy efficiency, environmental sustainability, and flexible deployment. Potential new capabilities related to prospective use cases are discussed qualitatively as well as new paradigms to address traffic growth, capacity needs, minimise complexity and provide alternatives to densification.

Luke Ibbetson, Head of Group R&D, Vodafone and NGMN Board Member, says: “This important contribution reflects how evolution towards 6G needs to deliver customer led outcomes whilst maximising efficient use of resources and ensuring the practical deployment of software-driven networks.”

Anita Döhler, NGMN CEO, states: “As a global mobile operator driven organisation, reflecting the entire ecosystem in its membership, we are well positioned in submitting 6G Requirements and Design Considerations to SDOs and the industry. Our objective is to guide and support the mobile industry in achieving a global 6G standard and with already over 50 companies participating in this specific project today, we look forward to driving industry alignment around 6G architecture in the future.”

Following NGMN’s publications “6G Drivers and Vision” in 2021, “6G Use Cases and Analysis” in 2022, the latest publication “6G Requirements and Design Considerations” marks the next step towards a deeper understanding of 6G architecture.

Collaboration is key to driving the industry’s most important topics such as NGMN’s strategic pillars: Green Future Networks, Operating Disaggregated Networks, and 6G. NGMN therefore invites all parties across the entire value chain to join the Alliance in this important endeavour.