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With 5G technology still in its adolescent phase, in India it is just functional in few cities, South Korea has announced its plan to launch the sixth generation of mobile cellular technology – the 6G, by 2028.
Korean ministry of science and information and communication technology on Monday announced that the government will incentivize local companies to produce materials, components, and equipment for the development of its 6G network. A feasibility study that is researching core 6G technology is already underway, reported GSMArena.
Many countries, including India, want to be first to develop this groundbreaking technology. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already announced that a task force for 6G implementation is already in place, and a launch by the end of this decade is possible. Underscoring PM Modi’s statement that connectivity will determine India’s pace of progress in the twenty-first century, telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had then stated that India will lead in 6G.
Understanding the ‘Gs’
Previous generations of mobile networks include 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G, and the most recent 5G. Let’s know in detail by tracing their history.
In terms of application, 1G, introduced in the 1980s, was only used to deliver analogue voice by converting human voice into electronic pulses. (ALSO READ: Explained: How is 5G technology different from 4G?)
In the early 1990s, the second generation – 2G – was developed. This introduced digital voice, and new CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) technology allowed multiple signals to occupy a single transmission channel. It improved the utilisation of available bandwidth.
In the early 2000s, as the world entered the twenty-first century, 3G technology was introduced. This technology facilitated mobile data access.
Then, at the end of the first decade of the 21st century, 4G commenced the era of mobile broadband bringing high-speed internet and faster data transfer.
And now it has just been few years that we have seen 5G technology. Still in nascent phase, it promises higher speeds, superior reliability and negligible latency and thought as of significant use in IoT (Internet of Things) devices.
The latest development in the field is 6G. It is expected to provide even faster data speeds, lower latency, higher bandwidth, and more reliable connections than 5G, enabling new use cases such as holographic communication and real-time virtual reality.