Building 6G business models: Worries and opportunities

WASHINGTON, D.C—With 6G already looming on the horizon as a technical challenge, there is also the pressing issue that in terms of new revenues, 5G has, by and large, not yet delivered. So what might 6G business models even look like, when the industry isn’t satisfied with what it has reaped from 5G?

At 6G Symposium in Washington, D.C. this week, several of the discussions resolved around what 6G business models, profitability, services and uses for those future networks might look like.

During a panel discussion, Chris Christou, SVP at Booz Allen, said that simplifying the transition to 6G and getting to upgradable networks should be part of the approach—a 6G system that is upgradable, and perhaps re-uses some of what has been done in 5G in terms of the network core, plus integrating new tech as needed in the RAN. Tyrell Junius, co-founder and COO of integrated communications and sensing (ISAC) company Tiami Networks, cited concerns about the technological complexities and 5G as a barrier to entry and profitability; 6G will need to be simplified, especially if it incorporates Open RAN, in order for it to be monetized, he said.

Mischa Doler, VP of emerging technologies at Ericsson, said his concerns about 6G came in three areas: Spectrum (or lack thereof); an artificial intelligence dialogue that both oversells and undersells, and carriers’ cash flow imbalances in terms of the spend vs. revenue from 5G.

In terms of spectrum, Doler spoke bluntly: “Let’s just be very clear here. No spectrum, no 6G. It’s as simple as that.”

Then he said that the conversation around AI isn’t in line with reality on two fronts. “I think we are overselling some of the capabilities of AI, what it can do in the network and for the network, and I think we are underselling a lot of what gen AI will do for the traffic going over the network,” Doler reflected.

But he named “three As” that he thinks are exciting in terms of 6G and the 6G business model: AI, in terms of increasing efficiency and effectiveness; APIs, which he said are all about the ability to scale, build and monetize a platform business; and AR, or augmented reality, which Doler said offers a new way of working and collaborating, but also needs very high performance requirements and capacity.

Doler said that in terms of uses of the network in 6G, he expects to see a further boost on Fixed Wireless Access, but that he is spending most of his time these days on work related to what he called “DnD”: Droids and drones. Ultra-reliable, low-latency communications (URLLC) hasn’t yet been a popular use case in 5G, he said, but added: “I think it was prep work for what it coming. DnD, Droids and drones, it really coming and I think this will hit us very hard,” Doler said. “These are non-negotiable uplink data rates we have never seen before as an industry. ” Forget about anything what license-exempt can do. This is only heavy-weight 5G FR1, FR2 and ideally, FR3, all carrier-aggregated to hit these data rates. They cannot compress much, because they have a service-level agreement which they cannot violateisimply because these will be robots walking around in the building, in the manufacturing halls, in the street lot. I think there’s a huge indsutry use case coming, which only 6G will be able to deliver.”