The commercial debut of 6G internet is anticipated to go live around 2030-2035. In addition to the ITU, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), a non-profit society for technology standardization, ratifies this dateline in its peer-reviewed paper titled “6G Architecture to Connect the Worlds.”

The paper states, “2030 and beyond will offer a unique set of challenges and opportunities of global relevance and scale: We need an ambitious 6G vision for the communications architecture of the post-pandemic future to simultaneously enable growth, sustainability as well as full digital inclusion.”

While there have been some preliminary conversations to characterize the technology, 6G research and development (R&D) efforts began in earnest in 2020.

The 6G Flagship initiative combines studies on 6G technologies across Europe. Japan is committing $482 million to the expansion of 6G in the next few years. The country’s overarching objective is to showcase innovative wireless and mobile technologies by 2025. In Russia, the R&D institution NIIR and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology produced a 2021 estimate predicting the availability of 6G networks by 2035.

American mobile providers are advancing their individual 6G innovation roadmaps. Importantly, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile are spearheading the Next G Alliance, an industry initiative. In May 2021, the Next G Alliance initiated a technical work program to develop 6G technology.