September 19, 2023 | Hinrich Foundation
Wiring a 6G world
The next generation of telecommunications standards is emerging in the form of 6G. As the 5G era gives way to 6G, a new scramble for market and technological influence will ensue. Enduring tensions in the current geopolitical climate are bound to influence the new telecommunications standard – right from the point of design.
September 19, 2023 | Hinrich Foundation
Wiring a 6G world
The next generation of telecommunications standards is emerging in the form of 6G. As the 5G era gives way to 6G, a new scramble for market and technological influence will ensue. Enduring tensions in the current geopolitical climate are bound to influence the new telecommunications standard – right from the point of design.
Excerpt
A new generation of telecommunications standards is emerging: In the years ahead, the 5G era will give way to 6G. This will catalyze a new scramble for market and technological influence. The result may be a global telecommunications network that is as fragmented as the geopolitical environment has become.
The 5G competition was a race with competitors all headed for a single prize; the 6G era may more likely resemble a quiltwork with dividing lines more starkly drawn. Enduring tensions in the US-China geopolitical competition are poised to bleed into a new telecommunications standard – right from the point of design.
China is already eyeing the lead in this new 6G competition. A common refrain in Chinese planning for the telecommunications competition up to this point charts the evolutionary path as: “1G blank, 2G lagging behind, 3G following, 4G paralleling, and 5G leading.” Now, Chinese political and industry leaders intend to build on the global position of leadership that Beijing established in 5G as the 6G era dawns.
Nathan Picarsic and Emily de La Bruyère are Senior Fellows at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and co-founders of the supply chain and geopolitical risk startup Horizon Advisory. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.