If you think 4G is fast and 5G is much faster, you’ll be surprised at how fast the next-generation mobile phone network—the 6G network—would be.
A team of researchers from the University College London (UCL), published in the Journal of Lightwave Technology, achieved a staggering 938 gigabits per second (Gbps) to transfer wireless data by combining high-speed electronics and microwave photonics technology.
The accomplished wireless network speed was approximately 9,000 times faster than the current speed of 5G networks, which are around 10 to 20 Gbps.
For context, according to NewScientist, at this speed of the next-gen 6G, it would be equivalent to downloading more than 20 average-length movies a second.
The researchers’ innovative approach aims to solve the typical congestion problem of the current 5G networks, which have very limited bandwidth, by fully utilizing the wireless spectrum from sub-6 GHz to millimeter (mm) waveband for data transmission, using either all-electronic or optoelectronic approach.
Imagining 6G in the Philippines
Looking at these new research findings regarding the probable deployment of 6G networks within the next decade, it makes you wonder how our country’s three major wireless telco companies, PLDT, Globe, and DITO, would fare, given that the current 5G standard hasn’t fully rolled out yet and a portion of the customer base still hasn’t even upgraded to 5G devices yet.
Are you excited about the next iteration of mobile cellular networks, the 6G?