American 6G hopefuls start chasing government partnerships

AUSTIN – Big 5G Event – Officials for the Next G Alliance are suiting up for the next phase of their broad 6G strategy: engaging with US government officials. The association held a party in Washington, DC, last week to kick off the effort with regulators and lawmakers.

Next, the alliance is hoping to set up some public-private partnerships to promote 6G testing and innovation.

“This is the phase we’re in now,” said InterDigital’s Doug Castor, a vice chair for the Next G Alliance, here at Light Reading’s Big 5G Event. He said the association has worked for the past few years to firm up its vision for 6G and to understand the role the technology might play in the broader US and global economy. Now, it is taking that view “to action,” he added.

Next G Alliance officials aren’t ready to discuss specifics about potential partnerships. But a start might involve the National Science Foundation (NSF), which receives roughly $10 billion annually to fund American science and engineering projects. Another possibility is the $1.5 billion “Wireless Innovation Fund,” administered by the Commerce Department’s NTIA.

Global importance

According to those involved with the Next G Alliance, the 6G topic is important from both a domestic and international perspective.

Domestically, the US companies involved in early 6G efforts believe it’s important to educate lawmakers and other government officials about their hopes and needs, including more spectrum for 6G and regulations favorable to its rollout. Internationally, it’s important because US-based companies are concerned that their global rivals – particularly those in China – might capture an insurmountable lead in the development and rollout of 6G if America isn’t prepared.

In that respect, the work of the Next G Alliance could be compared to the US government’s Manhattan Project, soon to be highlighted in the upcoming Christopher Nolan film Oppenheimer.

During World War II, the US government poured money into the Manhattan Project to make sure that the Allies, not the Axis powers, were the first to wield nuclear weapons. One ATIS official described the Biden administration’s new CHIPS and Science Act – which allocates around $280 billion for the development of domestic chipset manufacturing – as a modern day Manhattan Project, with 6G playing a related, supporting role.

The next phase of American 6G

ATIS – a North American trade association that has previously addressed issues including secure supply chains, robocalls and hearing aid compatibility for cell phones – launched the Next G Alliance in 2020. During 2021 the alliance assembled a diverse group of members including Apple, Verizon and the US Department of Defense, and in 2022 it introduced a 49-page white paper that laid out goals for the development of 6G.

Earlier this year the group explained how it sees 6G working across various sectors of the US economy, from agriculture to healthcare, and which use cases the technology might enable.

The Next G Alliance is the American answer to other 6G efforts around the world such as Europe’s 6G Smart Networks and Services Industry Association and Japan’s Beyond 5G Promotion Consortium (B5PC).

By pursuing public-private partnerships as its next step, the Next G Alliance is hoping to organize American companies, researchers, academics and government agencies around a common goal.

“In past generations [of wireless technologies], there has been a bit too much fragmentation,” said Castor during a panel discussion here.

Several officials agreed that the US government needs to be involved in the development of 6G.

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